The Best Kept Secrets
by Ren Kayashima
Summary: "Secrets are made to be found out with time." Charles Sanford. Stephanie has been keeping the mother of all secrets from the good people of Trenton, and they're about to find out what she's been hiding. It's been decided, this will be an eventual babe.
1. Prologue

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me. They are from the extremely creative mind of Janet Evanovich.

0o0o0o0

Prologue:

"_Secrets are made to be found out with time." Charles Sanford_

At eighteen Stephanie Plum was carelessly walking down the streets of Manhattan. She had come to visit a friend who was going to NYU. She held a plastic bag of goodies she had just bought from the small corner store. The late night sweet tooth had struck once again. She hummed off key to an old Beatles song she had been listening to earlier.

Cold calculating eyes watched the eighteen-year-old walk in her short denim skirt and white t-shirt. _Easy Prey, _he thought. He pulled a simple switch blade out from his pocket and made his move.

0o0o0o0

Two hours later a young man was walking the streets trying to sort through the many thoughts that had accumulated in his mind. He had a respectful air around him in his brown slacks, grey cashmere sweaters, and slightly scuffed brown loafers. His shaggy thick brown hair was styled back to keep the long strands out of his eyes. His blue eyes sparkled slightly when the street lights hit them at just the right angle.

His fleeting thoughts came to a halt when he heard a low moan. He looked around in confusion; wonder if he had possible imagined it. He saw a clean white tennis shoe at the opening of an alley and the color instantly drained from his face. Was it possible that someone had been hurt?

He walked carefully to the side of the alleyway and peeked around the corner. The sight that met his eyes was enough to push him into action. He rushed to the young woman's side and took in her tattered and beaten appearance. "Ma'am? Can you hear me?" he asked frantically. He crouched down beside her and avoided touching her. "What's your name?"

"S-Stephanie Plum," the woman muttered her cheek already had a dark bruise forming.

"Miss Plum, I'm going to pick you up," the man said. "My name is Cayden; I'm going to take you to the hospital.

Stephanie moaned and weakly shook her head. "No, no hospitals. I'm okay," she insisted.

Cayden shook his head. "You've got some cuts and bruises. You need medical attention."

"I'm not going to the hospital!" she shouted. She tried pushing the Good Samaritan away but winced in pain.

"Then please, let me get you off the streets," Cayden stated. He waited for her to nod before picking her up gingerly. He held her bridal style and looked at her. "My father's house is just down the street. He's a doctor. You should let him look at you."

Stephanie felt herself getting drowsy, but she forced herself to stay awake. Could she actually trust this man? She knew that he wasn't the man that attacked her. His voice was different from the gruff, malicious voice she remembered. "Say one word and I'll gut you where you stand!" came from her assailant. She would never forget his voice.

Five minutes later and Stephanie was seated on a plush brown couch as a man in his late forties cleaned up the cuts on her arms. "Miss Plum, can I ask you some questions?" he asked. His brown hair had started to grey at the sides and his blue eyes were looking at her from behind a pair of half-moon glasses.

Stephanie's lip trembled as she avoided his gaze. "Why?" she asked.

"I need to know what happened. You don't have to answer right away," the man started. "We'll start with introductions. My name is Braden McAllister. Where are you from?"

"Trenton," she whispered.

Braden smiled and kept his voice soothing. "Why are you here in New York?"

"I was visiting a friend. She's asleep, but I wanted some snacks…"

Braden nodded, his son had a similar affinity for late night snack runs. "Okay, is there someone I could call for you?"

Stephanie shook her head. Even if her parents were awake, what would she tell them? She would have called her grandmother, but she too was asleep.

"All right, now the hard question," Braden said as he tossed an alcohol swab into a small trash can beside him. "Were you raped?"

Stephanie burst into tears the minute he asked the question. She buried her face in her hands. How could she let this happen? She grew up in the burg; burg women were strong and independent.

Braden rested a comforting hand on her shoulder as his wife Clarissa came into the room with two uniformed officers. Cayden watched quietly from a piano. How someone could be sexually assaulted in this neighborhood. It was a nice place to raise families. Very little crime and never anything violent.

0o0o0o0

Stephanie sat on a queen sized bed nine months pregnant. She had allowed a rape kit, but in her naiveté had refused the pill thinking she couldn't possibly get pregnant. She had been wrong though, and by the time she had figured it out, it was too late.

The room had cream walls with white wood furniture and a pale green bed spread. A small desk rested under a window where a couple books on pregnancy sat dog eared and bookmarked. The nightstand had a picture of her grandmother and Stephanie at a young age.

Stephanie held _The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_ in her hands as she stared out the window.

Out of fear of discovery, she took the school year off in New Jersey and was living with Cayden. Since saving her life, the two had become good friends. She didn't worry about him because he was gay. She knew that he wouldn't hurt her.

The two of them were staying in the small guest house behind his parents place in Manhattan. While he attended school at Columbia, she waited tables at a local diner, and helped out around the house when she could. Cayden's parents were both reluctant about keeping Stephanie's pregnancy a secret, but were supportive nonetheless.

Cayden came to the open door and knocked on the side "How are my favorite ladies doing?" he asked with a big warm smile.

"She's really moving around today," Stephanie smiled back. She moved a hand to her stomach and rubbed it up and down.

Cayden came into the room and sat on the bed beside her. "Can I?" he asked looking at her round belly. He always asked permission to touch her, knowing that she still jumped at unexpected touches.

Stephanie nodded. "I still don't know how I'm going to tell my parents."

Cayden placed a hand on her stomach and a comforting arm around her shoulders. He smiled when he felt a small kick from the little baby. "You'll figure it out, your grandmother and Mary Lou know, and they've been sworn to secrecy, but when you do tell your parents about your baby, they'll be there to support you. So will I. You know that right?"

Stephanie nodded. Her eyes began to tear up. "I got a call form Officer Reynolds today," she said. "He said they caught the guy who raped me. They need me to come in tomorrow and make sure that it's really him."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Cayden asked worry taking hold of brain. She had been through so much. She would only talk about it with her grandmother and his mother.

Stephanie sniffed and leaned into his chest. She nodded quickly and began to cry.

"Now, now, crying makes your cheeks all blotchy," Cayden smiled. "You know that man can't ever hurt you again."

Stephanie took in a deep breath and furiously wiped away her tears dropping the book into Cayden's lap. "You're right. I was looking at baby names to day," she stated.

"Yeah?" Cayden asked. "Did you find a good name?"

Stephanie nodded. "I think so. What do you think of Allegra?"

"Like the music term. It means 'quickly with a happy air'," Cayden recalled thinking about the music lessons that had been drilled into his head at a young age. "We could call her Allie for short."

"That's what I was thinking."

Cayden picked up the mystery novel and opened it. "Can I read to her?"

Stephanie nodded and leaned back on a stack of pillows. She let out a tired sigh and looked at the man next to her. "Thank you Cayden."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well… what do you think? I know, I know, there are OC's in it. It was an idea I got and I just want to know what you think. If you hate it, then I'll take it down. If you like it then I'll actually turn it into a story. It's slightly AU in that Stephanie has a daughter, but it will follow the events that have happened in the books.

So drop a review my way and we'll see how this goes. Also, I haven't decided on the pairing, I can go either way on this one, so tell me who you think Stephanie should become romantically involved with. Morelli or Ranger?

Ren


	2. Chapter 1

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own the Plum characters or series. Only Cayden's family and Allegra belong to me.

0o0o0o0

Chapter One:

"Vacation? What do you mean you need a vacation?" Vincent Plum asked.

Stephanie let out an aggravated sigh. "I'm just taking a couple of days off." Was it too much to ask for? Two days wasn't a lot, and she was pretty sure Vinnie could deal with her being gone.

"What about any skips that come in?" Vinnie asked.

"Give them to Ranger," Stephanie said. She stood in her normal jeans and a grey t-shirt. A denim jacket sat next to her on the stiff plastic chair reserved for family members wanting to put their house up as collateral so that they could get a loved one out of jail.

"He doesn't take low bonds," Vinnie stated growing red in the face. His button up shirt was unbuttoned at the neck. His black slacks pooled slightly at the floor.

Connie leaned back in her seat looking at her nails. He held a brush of fire engine red nail polish in her fingertips. "It's two days Vinnie. We can handle two days without Stephanie," she stated never looking up from her handiwork. "Where are you going?"

"I'm visiting a friend in New York," Stephanie lied.

Her actual destination was Princeton, where her daughter was performing in a play called _It Was a Dark and Stormy Night_. It was a small cast and Allegra had insisted that her mother come.

It was a wonder Stephanie had managed to keep Allegra a secret for sixteen years. Cayden, Grandma Mazur, Mary Lou, and later on her father had all been sworn to secrecy.

Allegra didn't actually seem to care all too much. She enjoyed hearing all the adventures her mother took, but never actually wished to be a part of them. At least that's what Stephanie thought.

Vinnie let out a long breath and started tapping his foots. "Two day?" he asked.

"Two full days starting tomorrow, I leave tonight," Stephanie said.

"You'll have your phone on you?"

Stephanie placed a finger on her eye to stop the twitching. "Yes," she sighed. _Not a chance,_ she thought wickedly. _I'm going off the grid._

0o0o0o0

Stephanie stood in her apartment. A duffel bag sat by the door ready for when she left. Her cell phone, car keys, garage remotes, and key fob sat on the kitchen counter. Stephanie looked in her wallet and smiled at the few hundred dollar bills she had pulled from the bank earlier.

This was how it worked, cash purchases and freedom from electronics. When she arrived at Princeton, Cayden would have a disposable cell phone ready for her. Just in case.

There was a knock on her door and she sighed. She opened the door to find her father standing there holding a duffel bag. "We really should tell your mother," he mumbled.

"She'd freak out," Stephanie stated. "You wanted to kill the man who raped me. She'd rip his heart out."

"It doesn't seem right. Thirty years in prison, he should be there for life," Frank Plum muttered bitterly.

"Doesn't matter, he can't come near me or my daughter," Stephanie said grabbing Rex's cage. He father bent over and grabbed her duffel bag.

"She'll be happy to see you," Frank smiled. "She always enjoys our visits."

Stephanie nodded. She locked her door and followed her father down to the parking lot. Once they were buckled into the car, Frank pulled out quietly and headed towards his granddaughters home.

0o0o0o0

Allegra McAllister knew that there were many things that set her apart from the general Jersey teenage population. For one her father was gay.

At sixteen she was also the only albino she knew of, except her biological father, and she avoided his contact like the plague. She had light purple eyes that were slightly photophobic, enough to warrant a pair of tinted sunglasses and special contacts to always be in her possessions. Her white hair was thick and slightly curly and rested lightly on her shoulders.

She was lying down on her bed with the lights barely turned on. She moaned at the small headache and turned onto her stomach to block the light. She pulled the hood of her black jacket over her head and sighed. She was in her grey plaid pajama bottoms and a black tank top under her black jacket.

Cayden knocked on the door. "Allie, your mom and grandfather are going to be here soon. Are you sure you don't want some Motrin?"

"I'll be fine," Allegra stated. "I hate being albino."

Cayden came into the room and sat on the neatly made bed. "We've done everything we can to help the condition. You're lucky you only have an astigmatism and minor photophobia. You can get away with wearing color contacts to prevent too much light from reaching your retinas."

"I can't leave the house without putting on sunscreen, I always have to wear sunglasses, and if I don't I run the risk of getting cancer," Allegra stated irritated with her genetic condition. "It sucks."

"Like I've told you many times before, it could be worse," Cayden sighed. "Did you finish your homework?"

Allegra nodded and buried her face in the crook of her arm. "It wasn't too hard. Mostly, there was just a lot of reading and writing."

"I read your essay for Cry, the Beloved Country. Don't you think it could be longer?"

"It's a high school AP course, not one of your eighteenth century literature courses at Princeton," Allegra deadpanned. "I think five pages are entirely sufficient."

"But your paper could be better if your added to the current political situation in the Congo," Cayden said.

"My essay is about the extreme violence women face in the Congo, and while the current political situation is in turmoil, that's not what the essay, is about," she said pushing herself up on her elbows. She turned to look at him and smiled.

"How did you end up so smart?" Cayden asked.

Allegra shrugged. "I guess it comes from mom's side."

"You little twit," Cayden smiled. He reached over and ruffled up her hair a bit.

Allegra giggled. She rubbed her eyes and sighed. "I'll take that Motrin now."

"All right. Why don't you stay here in your room? I'll tell Stephanie to come up her to talk to you," Cayden explained as he stood up.

Allegra nodded and grabbed a folded plaid flannel blanket and wrapped it around herself before unceremoniously falling on her side. Cayden left the room after turning the lights down a little bit more.

Cayden walked down a small hall of family photographs. Several were of Allegra and Stephanie. Some had the three together, while others were candid shots of Allegra acting on stage, reading a book, or playing the piano and violin.

He headed down a flight of stairs and entered a small living room where two love seats formed a right angle. A baby grand sat in the corner polished and waiting to be played. The open concept first level was somewhat of a doughnut. One room always leading into two more. The living room opened up to the family room and dining room.

The family room contained a large plasma flat screen TV in a fully loaded entertainment center. Cayden dropped onto a black canvas couch in the family room and rested his hands on his stomach. He closed his eyes and mentally rehearsed Shakespeare's fifteenth sonnet.

The doorbell rang two minutes later and Cayden pushed himself off the couch and walked to the door. He opened it with a warm smile in place. "Stephanie, Frank, welcome back," he said.

Stephanie rushed in and searched the bottom floor. "Where is Allegra?" she asked. She held Rex's cage in a death grip.

Cayden took the cage gently and his smile grew. "She's upstairs. She's got a headache, so could you bring her some water and Motrin."

Frank entered the small alcove in between the dining room and living room and opened a door to a guest room. He dropped his bag on the bed before walking out once more. "Is she okay?" Frank asked as he walked towards the family room and sat in a navy recliner.

Cayden nodded. "This is fairly usual behavior for people who suffer from albinism. She's been getting them more form all of the time she's been spending under stage lights."

Frank grunted. "The game on?" he asked.

Cayden walked into the kitchen off of the family room and set Rex's cage down on the breakfast table. He came back in and sat on the black couch and grabbed the remote from a dark wood side table.

Stephanie knocked on Allegra's door before entering. She held a bottle of water and a couple of pills. "Hey Allie," she greeted.

Allegra looked up her purple eyes focusing on her mom's smile. She sat up and held her hands out. Stephanie came into the room more and handed her the water and pain killers. She watched as Allegra took a sip of water before popping a pill into her mouth. Allegra repeated the procedure once more before letting out a small sigh.

"Hi mom," Allegra said.

"You're still getting headaches," Stephanie frowned as she sat on the bed.

"I doubt that's going to change anytime soon, but now I know how to deal with them," she explained. "Blow any more cars up?"

Stephanie sighed and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Not lately. I've been using one of Ranger's Porsche's."

"So are you and Morelli on or off?" Allegra smirked slightly.

"Off, we had an argument about my job," Stephanie stated. She slipped her shoes off before tucking her feet under her legs.

Allegra shook her head. "On, off, on, off, on, off," she chanted as she moved her head from side to side. She stopped after a second and winced. "You love him, but you also love Ranger. I sense a love dilemma in the future."

"Oh yeah, where do you get this sense?" Stephanie asked.

"Wait, so my mom can have a spidey sense and I can't?" Allegra countered. "You do know that to some extent our behavior is inherited, right?"

Stephanie's eyes widened in shock. "Where did you hear that?" _Oh, dear god. Please don't be like your dad._

Allegra looked at her hands and frowned. "I'm nothing like him mom," she muttered. "I can't hurt people like he hurt you."

Stephanie pulled Allegra into a hug. "I know you're not. You're perfect the way you are." She said.

Allegra yawned and pulled back after a moment. She smiled at her mom and lay down. "So tell me about your last great skip."

Stephanie lay down next to her and looked at the ceiling as she thought about it. "Well, Vinnie got into trouble…"

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: So normally I'd include some sort of shout out at the beginning with the names of everyone who has reviewed, but there are twenty five of you and I thought it best to just start the story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed.

As to the pairing… it looks like this shall be a babe fic. As some of you know from the reply's I sent, I'm a babe cheerleader, so this works out for me.

So now it's time to drop a review letting me know what you think. The next chapter is going to introduce our two leading men as well as some flashbacks. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Ren


	3. Chapter 2

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me. They are from the extremely creative mind of Janet Evanovich.

_**Note: The play mentioned in this chapter is written by Tim Kelley and it's a mystery-comedy spoof. I have not had the honor of being in it, but I'm quite familiar with the play and I can easily say it's my favorite. The other play I was debating putting in here is called **__**I Hate Hamlet**__**, another comedy that deserves attention.**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Two:

Ranger sat in his office at RangeMan looking at several security reports. He leaned back in his seat and tapped the spacebar on his keyboard. The screen saver disappeared and revealed a map of the Trenton area. A red dot blinked slowly and a name had been attached. _Stephanie_.

He stood up and looked at the bulky Rolex on his wrist. Stephanie's cell phone placed her in her apartment for eighteen hours. It hadn't moved, and normally Stephanie would have left the apartment to at least get a tasty cake from the corner store, or to at least check in at Vinnie's office for more skips.

He pulled out his cell phone and called her number. No answer. He called the bail bonds office and got Connie on the phone.

"Have you heard from Stephanie?" Ranger asked as he grabbed his windbreaker and slipped it on.

There was a pause and Ranger shook his head. He could mentally picture Connie fanning herself. "She didn't tell you?" Connie asked.

"I haven't heard from her for a couple days," Ranger answered.

"She's on a two day vacation in New York. She said she was going to visit a friend in New York," Connie explained. "He has her phone on her."

"Thanks," Ranger said as he hung up. He left the office and headed for the elevator.

A half hour later he stood in Stephanie's empty apartment. He picked up her discarded cell phone and sighed. He pulled his own phone out and called Morelli.

"What do you want?" Morelli asked tiredly.

"Stephanie has made herself disappear. Did you two fight again?" Ranger asked. If they did, Ranger was free to sleep with Stephanie.

"That's none of your business," Morelli snapped. "And what do you mean she's made herself disappear. This is Stephanie we're talking about."

"She left her cell phone, car keys, key fob, and any electronic device she owns on her kitchen table. Connie said that she's in New York, but I can't confirm that."

"Stephanie doesn't know anyone in New York," Morelli stated confusion growing in his voice. "Let me make some calls."

Ranger hung up and immediately dialed Stephanie's parents. Her disappearance worried him. "Mrs. Plum, this is Carlos Manoso," he spoke. "Do you know where your daughter is?"

"No, why?" Helen answered.

"I have to give her a pay check and it appears she's taken a sudden vacation. I was wondering if you knew how I could reach her."

"No, Frank might, but he's away on a Lodge retreat right now," Helen answered.

"Thank you," Ranger sighed again.

"You're welcome."

Ranger hung up and walked into the living room. He sat down on the couch and looked around. This bothered him, he knew Stephanie liked her space, but she never flat out disappeared like this. Especially when he was watching her.

There were times when he himself would go off the grid, but he was a trained professional. That was Rangers 101.

Ranger called Tank when he got an idea. "Tank, can you tell me where Frank Plum's cell phone GPS places him?"

"Why?" Tank asked. Ranger was the only man alive who could provoke a conversation out of him.

"Both Stephanie and her father have cone on vacation without prior notice to anyone except yesterday when they both left."

Ranger could hear Tank typing on a keyboard and waited anxiously. "His phone is in a house in Princeton, New Jersey," Tank answered.

"Who lives there?" Ranger asked hoping to shed some light on why a man in his late fifties might be in a college town.

There was more typing on the other end. "Cayden McAllister and his daughter Allegra. There doesn't appear to be a connection to the Plum family."

"Run past addresses to see if they coincide with any of the Plum's former addresses. A five mile radius should be fine."

Ranger waited some more while Tank ran several search programs. Morelli was probably doing the same things, but Ranger was confident that his software was faster and far more accurate than the dated Trenton PD search programs.

"Stephanie lived at the McAllister residence in Manhattan for two and a half year." Tank stated after a couple of minutes. "You don't think Bombshell is in trouble do you?"

"I'm going to find out."

"Frank Plum's cell phone started moving."

"Send me the address of the house and when he stops send me that address," Ranger said as he headed for the door. "Wait," he stopped in the hall. "You said this McAllister guy has a daughter?"

"Yeah, it says her name is Allegra," Tank answered.

"How old is she?" Ranger asked as he continued walking.

"She's sixteen; she goes to Princeton High School. She's a sophomore."

Ranger left the building and walked over to his Porsche. "Good work Tank."

Ranger pulled into the Princeton High School student parking lot. On his left was a 1973 candy apple red Volkswagen Beetle. From the looks of it, the car had been given quite the face lift. New paint, stereo system, seating, and if he ever got to see the inside of the car, he was sure he would find a new engine.

He got out of his car and looked around. Adults and teenagers were walking towards the theater. He tried to spot Stephanie's father, but couldn't find the Old Italian man.

He headed into the theater lobby and bought a ticket to _It Was a Dark and Stormy Night_. He looked around once more and spotted Morelli entering the building.

"I haven't seen her," Ranger spoke. He took a playbill and looked inside.

Morelli bought a ticket and grabbed a playbill. "Steph never mentioned living in New York, much less having a roommate."

"Her former roommate's daughter is in the play," Ranger said looking at a picture of the albino sixteen-year-old. He looked at the writing to the side and mentally smiled.

_Allie may look like a ghost, but she certainly isn't invisible. This is her third time participating in a PHS play. She's excited to be performing with such an amazing cast of individuals. She wants to thank her mom and dad for all the support and love they've provided, and hopes they enjoy watching her greatest role unravel on stage._

"Cayden McAllister has a Ph.D. in English Literature, and teaches full time at Princeton University," Morelli said flipping through the program. "Allegra, his daughter, is in all advanced placement courses and is scheduled to take some classes at the University next year."

"Smart kid," Ranger said as they entered the theater.

"No shit. Its a part of some program the University offers to eligible juniors and seniors when they've exhausted all possibilities in a specific subject. It looks like Allegra's courses involve music, theater, and Italian."

"You've done your research."

"Gazzara did actually. He gave me all the information over the phone," Morelli explained. He pointed to the center of the front row seats. "There's Stephanie."

The lights dimmed and the two men were told to take their seats by a pizza faced usher. They sat in the seats closest to the exit and watched as the drama teacher mad his way up to a microphone.

_Why has Stephanie never mentioned knowing this McAllister guy? _ Morelli thought as the curtain were pulled back to reveal a hotel lobby setting.

Two hours later, Morelli and Ranger stood outside in the cold air looking for Stephanie. They spotted her with her father talking to a brown haired, blue eyed, six foot tall man.

Morelli marched over and called Stephanie's name, while Ranger walked over casually. She was safe; there was no need to be in a hurry. Stephanie turned around in shock. Frank Plum looked at the ground and the brown haired man glanced around nervously and stuffed his gloved hands into his pea coat.

"Joe, Ranger!" Stephanie yelled. "What…how…"

"Your dad has his cell phone on him," Ranger explained.

Stephanie turned to her father. "You brought your cell phone!" she shrieked.

Frank looked confused. "No, I left it on the table, I got along fine without the damned thing," he said as he patted his jacket down. He stopped and reached into a hidden packet and pulled out a small flip cell phone. He cursed quietly and looked at his daughter apologetically. "Your mother must have put it in my pocket."

The brown haired man looked at the two alpha males and held out his hand. "Dr. Cayden McAllister. How do you do?"

Ranger shook his hand firmly while Morelli glared at him.

"How do you know Stephanie," asked Morelli as he easily slipped into his cop mode.

"We lived together for some time. We're good friends," Cayden answered calmly. He brushed some dirt off his sleeve and smiled gently.

Ranger smirked when Morelli looked at Stephanie dumbfounded. Stephanie shifted uncomfortably, letting Cayden take the reins.

"You two used to date?" Morelli questioned Stephanie.

Cayden laughed heartily and Ranger's smirk turned into a small smile. "No, no, nothing like that. Stephanie isn't my type," Cayden shook his head quickly.

"You're gay," Ranger said.

"Yes, and can I just say," Cayden began. "I really like what I see."

Frank started to mumble something that sounded like 'fruitcake'. Cayden smiled as Morelli took a step back and Ranger maintained his ground. In truth, Cayden preferred a fellow intellectual to the macho man, but he liked making straight guys feels uncomfortable.

Allegra ran over and jumped to a stop next to Stephanie. "Mom! What did you think? I know Olive doesn't have any speaking parts really, but I really liked do all the pantomiming. And I got to hit someone over the head with a pan…" Her speech steadily slowed down and altogether stopped when she zeroed in on Morelli and Ranger. "Uh-oh."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well that was immensely enjoyable. I totally wanted to end it there. I thought that would be a great stopping spot. So I've brought in the two main male protagonists. How will they react to Stephanie's secret? What will happen to Allegra? Is Stephanie going to be able to tell Ranger and Joe what happened to her all those moons ago?

Well some of these answers will be in the next chapter, and major plot lines are going to take some time to develop. So keep a watchful eye out.

Let me know what you think. I can't tell you how happy I am to have over forty reviews for only two chapters. My other stories in the Criminal Minds fandom have never gotten such attention. So thank you to everyone who reviewed these past to chapters. I hope to hear more from you. Everyone who reviews knows how much I enjoy hearing from the readers. Don't be shy; I'm a very kind person. I promise. I can't bite you over the internet either.

Fare thee well peeps.

Ren


	4. Chapter 3

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me. They are from the extremely creative mind of Janet Evanovich.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Three:

Allegra shifted uncomfortably next to her mom. Her white knee length nursemaid's outfit was obviously not meant for the cold as she shivered. She moved behind Cayden and buried her pale face in his back.

"I'm so sorry," she spoke. The wool jacket muffled her voice so that only Cayden and Stephanie could hear her.

"Allie, go inside and get changed so we can go home," Cayden said. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket. "Little Red Riding Hood is all fixed up and ready for you to drive home."

"Why couldn't you get a Buick," Frank grumbled. Foreign cars were a major disappointment in his world.

Allegra pulled her face out of Cayden's back and looked at her grandfather. "I'm sixteen, not sixty," she stated as she grabbed the car keys. She glances at the slack jawed Morelli and the stone faced Ranger. "Toodles," she turned quickly and skipped inside the building.

"I don't suppose we can continue this conversation at my home," Cayden said. "It's only a couple miles away, warmer too. Plus, it's not a public venue, so it's more suited for this situation."

Ranger nodded. Stephanie looked almost as pale as Allegra. Morelli stood straight and narrowed his gaze on Stephanie causing her to look at the ground. "Did she just call you mom?"

Frank decided to step in. "If the Italian Stallion wants answers, he'll have to come to the house to get it. I'm not standing out in the cold and displaying out current family matters to the better half of Princeton Township."

"I take it that the Trenton Detective and security specialist already know where I live, so we'll see you at the house," Cayden said. He placed a soothing hand on Stephanie's back and guided her to the student parking lot.

Frank looked at the two men before following his daughter. Morelli's nostrils flared as he turned on his heel and walked to his car. Ranger stood where he was for a moment breathing in the cold air.

He walked over to his Porsche and looked at the red bug. Rather than get in the expensive Italian car, he leaned against the front door and waited to see if his theory was right.

Five minutes later Allegra came bobbing over happily to the red car. "Oh my sweet, sweet, Little Red Riding Hood, you're far prettier than I ever dreamed," she gushed.

She wore a grey knit beanie to cover the top half of her head She stayed warm in a grey wool duffle coat, heavy blue jeans, and faux fur lined boots. She carried a black The North Face backpack in one hand and held her car keys in the other.

Ranger studied the giddy albino and cleared his throat. Allegra jumped and almost tossed her backpack at the tall dark Cuban-American.

"Cayden's not your father, is he?" Ranger spoke.

"It says so on my birth certificate, so I'm going to go with a no on that one," Allegra stated as she unlocked the car door. She pulled out a pair of black tall plastic rimmed glasses from her coat pocket and slipped them on to help her poor eyesight. Ranger didn't quite understand this new fad of wearing glasses that took up half of your face.

"Biologically, he isn't your father," he started. "Albinism is a genetic defect. Which means, that you're one of the rare cases of albinism that comes from one parent?"

"I-I have to go," Allegra said pulling her door open. "Oh, and your facts aren't completely straight. A parent can have the recessive gene but not exhibit signs of having it. And there are extremely rare cases where albinism is caused by a mutation of the genes later on in the embryonic cycle, without holding the genetic marker for it."

She slid into the driver's seat and dropped her bag on the passenger seat. She slammed her door shut and immediately locked it.

0o0o0o0

"Can you explain what the hell is going on?" Morelli asked as he paced in Cayden's living room.

Stephanie sat on one of the couches in the living room, hands clasped, shoulder sagged, eyes on the floor. "I'll wait until Ranger gets here."

"Why!" Joe snapped. "Why must you always include him?"

Cayden came into the room holding a coffee cup. He held it out to Stephanie who silently took it. "Detective Morelli, I don't like yelling in my house. Either keep it down or get out."

The front door opened as Allegra came in. Only to have her swear and cover her eyes. She turned around and retreated only to bump into Ranger on his way in. Cayden quickly went around the room turning down the lights. He looked cautiously at Allegra.

"Who the fuck turned the lights up!" Allegra yelled as Ranger rested his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently away. "Oh! I mean frack, who the frack turned the lights up."

"I thought you would take longer to change," Cayden said.

"I turned them up," Morelli said. "What's the matter with you?"

"Albinos tend to be photophobic," Stephanie said. "Allie's only slightly photophobic, but after a night under stage lights, her eyes are sensitive to large changes."

Allegra kept her eyes closed but felt her way over to the staircase and walked up slowly. "Stupid man," she grumbled. "Mess with the lights in your own house, not other peoples. Dad, can you bring me some ice cream, water, and Motrin?"

"I'll be up in a moment," he answered watching as she felt her way into her dark room. "How does little Red run?"

"Like a dream!" Allie called happily as she kicked the door shut.

Ranger came into the living room and shut the front door. "Cute," he told Stephanie. He sat on the empty couch and looked into the family room to find Frank watching from a distance.

"Now can you explain?" Morelli asked. He stopped pacing and looked at his current ex. "Is that really your daughter?" he crossed his arms and stared at Stephanie coldly.

Stephanie nodded weakly, "I was eighteen."

Morelli pointed to Cayden. "Did he put you up to this? I mean he's the father."

"Not biologically," Ranger said. "Right babe?"

Stephanie nodded as tears began to drip down her slightly pink cheeks. Flashbacks from that night invaded her mind.

Allegra poked her head out of her room. "Mom, dad's there for you. You can talk about it," she came out of the room in pale pink pajama shorts and a grey tank top under a grey hoodie, revealing slight color to her once thought of white skin.

"You should stay in your room," Cayden sighed. As much as she knew that avoiding well lit places was probably best, she hated being in the dark alone.

Allegra pulled her hood up so that it would cover the top part of her face and act as a buffer for the light. She hopped down the stairs and headed for the downstairs guest room but stopped at a closed door leading to the garage.

She opened the door and a black Great Dane puppy came bounding in. He hopped around Allegra once before running over to Stephanie's couch and jumped onto the empty cushions. He tilted his head to look at the woman before dropping his head into her lap.

"Duke," Allegra scolded playfully. "Mom's having a serious conversation, let's go upstairs and listen to Bach."

The puppy looked at Allegra but remained rooted to the couch. Allegra giggled lightly. "Mom, take care of Duke. He likes it when you scratch him behind the ears," she ordered. "Ta ta for now."

The teenager gave a flick of her wrist before pounding up the stairs and back into her room. She kicked the door closed once more.

Cayden shook his head. "You'll have to forgive Allegra, she's very protective of the past," he explained to the others in the room. "I'm going to get her required items. Steph, are you going to be okay for a moment?"

Stephanie sniffed and nodded. She scratched Duke's head and he looked up at her with big black puppy eyes. "Go, Allie's head is probably killing her right now."

Cayden studied her for a moment before walking towards the kitchen. Deeming it safe to leave.

"Stephanie who's the father?" Morelli pressed.

"His name is Daniel Magnusson," Stephanie said. "He's in Attica for…" Stephanie stopped talking as she began to choke up. Her lip trembled as she bent over and hugged Duke's head.

Ranger's jaw tightened. Allegra's biological father had hurt Stephanie that much he could tell, and you didn't go to Attica for minor offenses.

"Shit Stephanie, who the hell did you get involved with?" Morelli asked jumping to conclusions. He raked a hand through his hair in aggravation.

Ranger looked up at Allegra's bedroom door and saw that she had opened it slightly and had taken a seat by the door, hood up, head down. He could only see a bit of her white hair.

"I didn't get involved with that pale face monster!"

Allegra winced. It had to be hard for her mom. Looking at her daughter every day and remembering what her biological father did to her.

"I wanted a snack, so I went to the small corner store," Stephanie began. "He grabbed me from behind as I passed an alley."

Cayden headed up the stairs holding a pint of strawberry Hagan Daz ice cream and a glass of water. A bottle of pain killers popped out of his pocket. He stopped halfway up the stairs and looked at Stephanie.

Allegra crawled out of her room and moved to the top of the stairs to sit. She looked at Cayden. This was her first time hearing the event from her mom. Cayden sat down next to her and handed the ice cream and water to her before pulling the pill bottle from his pocket.

"It still can't remember anything but the pain," Stephanie cried. "Even then it was like I was on the outside looking in. I-I couldn't stop him," she hugged Duke's head and Ranger finally understood that Allegra had brought the dog in for her mom. Frank came into the room and sat on the other side of his daughter and wrapped an arm around her.

Ranger's gaze turned cold and malicious as he thought of ways to harm Daniel Magnusson. Morelli's jaw was set and his nostrils flared. Cayden shook his head and turned to Allegra. She had stopped eating and her head was bowed slightly her white bangs hiding her violet eyes. A couple of tear drops fell into her frozen dessert.

"Cayden found me lying in the alley. He took me to his parents and his dad treated my injuries," Stephanie explained. "I found out I was pregnant with Allegra a month and a half later."

She sniffed and looked at her dad. "I was so ashamed of what happened; I didn't tell anyone what happened except Mary Lou and grandma. I guess they understood because they didn't tell anyone, but as much as I wanted to tell you and mom, I could bring myself to do it, and then you saw me with the baby a year later. I couldn't relive that night all over again."

"So you kept it a secret for sixteen year?" Morelli asked angrily.

"Actually it's more like seventeen," Allegra stated quietly, but her voice carried over the open atmosphere. "You have to take into account the nine months she was pregnant, and then the fact that I turned sixteen last month." She looked up from her ice cream and had a blank look in her eyes.

Morelli turned and glared at Allegra, who only stared back dully. "And you're okay with people not knowing about you?"

"Have you seen what I look like?" she asked. "I'm a walking freak show, an anomaly. People gape and stare at me enough already. I have a gay father, so that warrants more attention, because everyone knows the gays are out to destroy the core family values!" she spat throwing her hands up in the air, tired of the ignorance displayed by many people she met throughout life. "The last things my mom and I need are more people whispering behind our backs because I'm the product of rape. That's not a stigma you can easily rid yourself of, and I don't want that for my mom."

"Allie you're not a freak show," Stephanie said.

Allegra stood up and looked at her mom while gesturing to her entire body. "Says you, but to everyone else out there, I'm 'ghost girl'," She retorted. "My skin isn't even completely white and people say I'm a ghost."

"Why didn't you tell me," Morelli asked changing the subject back to the more important matter. "We were engaged."

"Don't feel bad. Dickie Orr didn't know until they got married," Cayden said.

"Jackass," Allegra coughed sitting back down. Stephanie laughed slightly making Allie smile.

"You told your cheating ex about her, but you didn't tell me," Morelli stated. He shook his head in disbelief. "You've done a lot of things Stephanie, but this one takes the cake."

"I wanted to tell you, but we're always fighting and getting back together," Stephanie sobbed.

Allegra looked down at Morelli from her perch on the stairs. "It's my fault," she said. "I'm the one who told her to keep me a secret."

Ranger looked at Stephanie and found surprise written all over her face. Had Allegra lied to take the heat off of her mother?

"Why?" Morelli asked. "I've been involved with her for five years."

"Because I have a dad," Allegra snapped pointing her thumb to Cayden. "I don't need two more potential father figures who don't plan on sticking around like the last one promised."

Ranger sensed that there was some truth to the teens reasoning. It was obvious the she already had pre-formed opinions of Morelli and himself. He wondered for a moment why his search programs had never revealed that Stephanie had been pregnant.

He wasn't the most forthcoming about his past. Scratch that. He was never forthcoming about his past unless he had to be. Almost nobody knew about his daughter until she had been abducted.

Morelli's nostrils flared once again and he glared harder at Allegra attempting to make her back down. Allegra pulled her hood off and glared right back. Ranger smiled, she was definitely Stephanie's daughter.

Cayden sighed. This had gone on long enough. "That's enough, Allie go to your room. Detective Morelli, Mr. Manoso, either wrap this up calmly or get the hell out of my house."

Ranger looked at Stephanie. "Babe, we need to talk."

Stephanie nodded. Allegra let out an _hmpf_ and marched into her room slamming the door shut angrily. Everyone looked at the door when they heard a muffled scream. Frank smiled slightly and looked at his daughter.

"You would do the same thing when you were sixteen."

Morelli looked at Stephanie, obviously ticked and hurt. He walked to the front door and left. Stephanie shouted his name standing up, but he was already in his car and driving off as she reached the door.

0o0o0o0

Still angry from the night before Morelli found himself stomping up to the Plum house. Helen opened the door and looked at him in shock. "Joe, what are you doing here?"

Grandma Mazur stood nervously in the background. Stephanie had called earlier in the morning, distraught and on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

Allegra's candy apple red bug came to a screeching stop in front of the house and she bolted out of the car. She was in dark blue jeans, black Uggs, and a black duffle coat. She had on a pair of dark sunglasses to block out the afternoon sun.

The sun was high in the sky and reflected off of the small snow piles that had appeared overnight.

"Detective Morelli, stop!" Allegra shouted. She ran up to him and grabbed his arm. "You're not the one who should tell her!"

"Your mother has kept this secret for too long," Morelli yelled. He looked at Helen and gestured to the teen. "Meet your granddaughter Helen, the sixteen-year-old that Stephanie has been hiding from the world."

"Stop!" Allegra shrieked as she pulled at his arm harder. Half of her footing was balanced on the top step of the porch.

"Get off of me!" Morelli pushed her off and the teenager fell to the walkway with a slight _slap. _Her sunglasses slipped off letting in massive amounts of light into her sensitive eyes.

"Allie," Granma Mazur yelled.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: And another cliff hanger. I gave you guys a longer chapter this time. Well, there was a lot to right and I couldn't just end it with Morelli walking off. I had to add just a teensy bit more drama to the recipe.

So let me know what you think. I have seventy reviews from the first three chapters, and I'm absolutely tickled. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I love hearing from the reviewers, as many of you are aware.

As to the Conversation between Steph and Ranger, we aren't going to see it till later. Another thing that was brought to my attention. Princeton Township is only a twenty minute drive (traffic permitting) from Trenton.

Also, as I'm sure there are some people out there who do not agree with me, the statements made by Allegra about her gay father, are not in any way meant to bash a specific people or population.

I hope to hear from some of you soon!

Ren


	5. Chapter 4

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me. They are from the extremely creative mind of Janet Evanovich.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Four:

Edna came scrambling over to Allegra as she began crying hysterically. The teenager curled up into a ball and covered her face with her hands.

"Allie, are you okay?" Grandma Mazur asked grabbing the fallen sunglasses. "Honey, here are your glasses.

"I-it h-hu-hurts," Allie sobbed.

Edna looked at Joe. "Joseph Morelli, you should be ashamed."

"It's just light," Joe stated confused.

Allie grabbed her shades and slipped them back on her face and took several deep breaths trying to stop her from crying even more. Although the sunglasses were in place she kept her eyes squeezed shut. "I need to get inside," she said quietly.

"What's going on," Helen shouted in frustration. She looked at Morelli coldly. "What do you mean Stephanie has a daughter?"

Allie pushed herself weakly off the ground once she was confident that the tears had stopped for the moment. "I shouldn't be here," she said. "Detective Morelli, you have officially made it onto my shit list," she growled as she pulled her slightly damp jacket off.

Mrs. Markowitz came out of her home and looked at Helen. "I didn't know Stephanie had a daughter," she said.

_It figures the only time she actually can hear through the walls would be when Stephanie's secret came unraveled,_ Grandma Mazur thought.

"What's your name young lady," Mrs. Markowitz asked.

"Carmen San Diego," Allegra answered as she threw her jacket towards Morelli's voice. "God I hate you right now!"

Morelli caught the jacket and Helen quickly took it from his hands, planning to throw it in the dryer.

"You're kidding right. It's just light," Morelli stated.

Allegra was guided into the house as Helen watched anxiously. She plopped herself into her grandfather's recliner and slipped her boots off so that she could curl up. Morelli came in as Helen grabbed the ironing board and a load of fresh laundry.

"Why me?" she asked. "Why does this always happen to me. A gun wielding daughter and mother, and now a secret granddaughter. Why can't I have a normal month? A week even."

"Normal doesn't exist, but thanks for trying," Allegra chimed. "Where's Detective Morelli."

The phone started to ring and Helen pulled the cord out of the wall using her foot.

"In front of you," Grandma Mazur said pulling Helen away from the ironing board and into the kitchen.

Allegra let out a deep breath. "All right," she began. "What do you know about albinos?"

"Nothing," Morelli answered. "We don't have albinos in Trenton."

"Maybe you want to fathom a plausible reason out eyes are red, pink, or violet," Allegra said. She took off her sunglasses and slowly opened her eye. Morelli looked at the slightly bloodshot violet eyes. She rested her arm on the shoulder and placed her chin on top of them. "No? Okay. Irises don't carry any sort of pigment, when you're completely albino. So what you're seeing is a combination of blood vessels. Now think back to high school Biology." _I know it's hard, but try to use what little brain cells you do have. _"What is the purpose of the iris?"

This girl was making Morelli feel stupid and his blood began to boil. No worries, he could answer this one. "The iris is meant to adjust the amount of light that reaches the visual cortex. The darker the room the wider the iris opens up."

Allegra clapped her hand in mock happiness. _Good boy there are some smarts in you,_ she thought. "So, if the iris helps with restricting the amount of light reaching the retina, then there must be a reason that eyes have color. The color, pay attention now, also helps with restricting light input. I have no color in my irises, and therefore, too much light reaches my eyes."

Morelli sighed angrily. "Why don't you like me?"

"My eyeballs are killing me, you think I'm actually in a position to like you right now?" she asked.

Morelli threw his arms up in frustration. If there was any doubt before this moment as to whose daughter this was, it had completely disappeared. There was only one woman on the face of the planet that could infuriate him like this.

0o0o0o0

Stephanie sat in Cayden's kitchen poking at a plate of pancakes. She thought about the night before and the conversation she had with Ranger.

_Stephanie stood outside breathing in the cold air. She was in one of her daughter's wool coats and wore a black beanie. She blew out a puff of warm air and watched it turn to a light fog in the wind._

_Ranger came up from behind her and placed a gentle hand on the back of her neck as he guided her to his sleek, black Porsche and helped her into the passenger seat._

"_Where are we going?" Stephanie asked. She didn't really want to leave the house. Allegra hadn't left her room since Morelli had stormed off._

_Ranger slid behind the wheel and turned the car on. "Just a drive," he answered. "Tell me about her."_

"_Who?" Stephanie questioned trying to avoid the subject._

"_Allegra," Ranger slightly growled. He had grown tired of Stephanie's games tonight. "I can't protect you or your daughter if I don't at least know a little bit about her."_

"_What do you want to know?" Stephanie asked sliding down in her seat._

"_Everything, no more secrets concerning your daughter," Ranger stated._

"_She likes jazz, classic rock, classical, and country music," Stephanie said. "She's a big fan of anything written by Debussy, Vivaldi, Bach, and Beethoven. She's prefers comedy over drama, but can easily work in both fields on stage."_

"_She's smart," Ranger said as he pulled onto the freeway._

_Stephanie smiled and her eyes gained a new light. "Cayden's parent made sure that she was put in the best schools in New York while the two of us went to college."_

"_Cayden's older than you?"_

"_Two years, he was halfway through his master's degree when I met him. He graduated from high school at the age of sixteen. His parents thought that raising a child would affect his ability to work on his doctorate."_

"_Did it?"_

_Stephanie shook her head. "If anything, it motivated him to work harder. He was the one who asked me to become her adoptive father. He wanted to be a good father to Allie, and I was going to let him."_

"_Does her real father know about her?" Ranger asked as his grip tightened on the wheel. He wanted to kill the bastard that hurt Stephanie._

_Stephanie bit her lip and nodded. "He saw me pregnant when I identified his voice as that of my attacker, and later with the baby after the trial," she said. "He was convicted on three accounts of rape, so he was forced to forfeit custody of Allegra. I wouldn't even let him close to her anyway."_

"_Let's go back to the subject of Allegra," Ranger said. "How much does she know about me?"_

"_Almost everything we've been through," Stephanie answered. "She figured out that we had sex."_

_Ranger smirked. "And the dog?"_

"_Duke?" Stephanie asked. "Duke was a random gift from Cayden's parents. She's wanted a puppy since she was six. She wanted one that she could play with. After ten years of arguing the benefits of owning a dog, Braden cave in and bought her one."_

"_What's the deal with her car?"_

"_A combo birthday gift from Cayden and Braden," Stephanie said. "She won't let me drive it because of my luck with cars. Did you ever see the Herby movies?"_

"_Once, I went with my sister to the theater," Ranger nodded. _

"_It's one of Cayden's favorites. He had Allie watch it when she was twelve. She said that she wanted a classic bug and that it had to be candy apple red," Stephanie laughed slightly. "So, Cayden and I taught her how to drive a stick shift while Braden looked around for the perfect bug and an auto shop that could fix it up."_

"_She looked at that car the same way you look at birthday cake."_

"_Why do you need to know all of this?"_

"_Gathering information," Ranger said as he pulled of the freeway to turn around. "Does she play the piano in the living room?"_

_Stephanie nodded. "If you had seen her room, you would have seen the first and second violins she's ever owned too. She loves playing the piano and the violin equally."_

"_She sounds like a spoiled child," Ranger said. It sounded like she got a lot of things that she wanted._

"_Not a lot. She gets about one big gift every three years. The rest of the time she works at the university bookstore and runs errands for the professors around campus," Stephanie explained._

"_Violins, puppies, and restored 1973 bugs," Ranger listed. "That kind of stuff builds up."_

"_Her grandfather's a surgeon and her grandmother is a patent lawyer making eight hundred grand a year. They can spoil her as much as they want too. They've opened her world up to the Opera, ballet, musicals, art exhibits, anything that will make her a more cultured individual. I mean this is a kid that goes to the symphony hall when she gets bored."_

_Ranger laughed slightly. Most teenagers in Trenton thought a good time was going to Pino's and eating pizza, and Stephanie's daughter spent time at the symphony._

"_I'm not kidding!" Stephanie defended. "I found her there once, and she was doing homework during their daily practice. The conductor calls her by her first name, and gave her an open invitation to come whenever she wants."_

_Ranger smiled and pulled to a stop in front of Cayden's home. Stephanie frowned as she clasped her hands._

"_Are you mad too?" she whispered, she lost Joe. She wasn't ready to lose Ranger too._

_Ranger looked at her and gently placed a hand under her chin, forcing her to look at her. "I'm just trying to understand babe," he leaned over and kissed her._

_Stephanie placed a hand on his. When he pulled away he moved so that his lips were at her ear._

"_Don't ever think that you can't trust me," he said. "We all have secrets."_

Cayden came into the kitchen looking rushed and angry. He slipped his jacket on and looked at Stephanie. "We need to go, your grandmother just called."

Stephanie looked up in worry. "What's wrong?"

"Allegra didn't go to the symphony hall like we thought she did," Cayden said.

"Where did she go?" Stephanie asked a sinking feeling in her stomach made her gulp in fear.

"She went to stop Morelli from telling your mom and he ended up pushing her off your mother's front porch"

Stephanie stood up. "Is Allegra okay?" she asked.

"She's been berating Morelli for the past couple of minutes. Your mother is very confused and waiting for you to explain."

Stephanie nodded and found her dad waiting by the door ready to leave.

0o0o0o0

Helen stood nervously next to Allegra waiting for her daughter to come and explain this mess away. Even with Edna's explanation, she needed to hear it from her daughter. Morelli stood on the back porch under orders from Grandma Mazur. Edna had retreated into the kitchen to make some lunch and bake some cookies. Allegra was listening to a violin solo on her iPod. She moved the fingers of her left hand to mimic the fingering of each note.

Helen and Allegra looked at the door as Stephanie came in. Cayden and Frank walked in behind her. Helen looked at her daughter for a moment before she started to sniff and cry.

"Oh Stephanie," she said walking over and wrapping her arms around her. "I'm so sorry. I should have never acted in such a way that would make you think that you had to hide her away."

Stephanie hugged her mother tentatively. "No, I should have told you. I was afraid of what you would say."

"Afraid?" Helen asked. She hugged Stephanie tighter. "This isn't your fault, and we can't change that.

"Mom, are you okay?" Stephanie asked. Where was the scolding and chastising?

Grandma came out of the kitchen holding a sandwich. "It's the change."

"Mother! Stop saying that," Helen scolded. "A daughter should never feel like they have to hide something form their own mother."

Cayden ignored the women and walked over to Allegra. "Hey honey, are you okay?"

Allegra nodded and smiled. "Grandma gave me some really good pain killers after I made Detective Morelli feel like a complete moron," Allegra answered. "I think they're working. I feel a little loopy."

Cayden laughed. "That's my girl," he said ruffling up her hair. "Can I see your eyes?"

Allegra pulled the sunglasses off once more just as the door slammed open. Lula came barreling into the house looking around bull eyed. She was followed by Connie, Sally Sweet, and Joyce Barnhardt.

Cayden jumped up and stood in front of Allegra in an attempt to protect her from the unwanted visitors. Allegra peeked around the side and her lip curled up in disgust at the sight of Joyce.

"What's this I hear about Stephanie having a red eyed daughter named Carla from the Dominical Republic?" the large black woman shouted quickly. She looked around and locked her gaze on Allegra's violet eyes.

"Top of the mornin'," Allie smiled and waved.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well again, I've left it at a place where you want to see more. I really _really, _no I mean _really_ enjoyed writing the beginning. Its official, Allegra is my favorite OC to write at the moment.

Question: How would the readers feel about a discussion forum for Evanovich's books, as well as a place to ask questions pertaining to writing and managing a story on this area of ?

I recently discovered that forums can be a great place to pose questions, scenarios, and general opinions about something that they find interesting in that particular fandom. Before I create a forum, I want to find out if there is any real interest in participating in one. I know that some people are more inclined to look at forums, while others would just as easily stick to reading the amazing pieces of work on .


	6. Chapter 5

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me. They are from the extremely creative mind of Janet Evanovich.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Five:

Joyce smirked. "Of course Stephanie would have a freak for a daughter," she said.

Allie snorted. "Says the woman who barks like a dog when she has sex," she retorted.

Lula looked at Stephanie and crossed her arms. "So it's true?"

Stephanie smacked the heel of her hand against her forehead. "What are you doing here?"

"We got a call at the bonds office asking about Stephanie's daughter," Connie explained as she stared at Allegra. "Sally came to get some advice on dresses, and Joyce was how the white haired girl so eloquently put it barking like a dog."

Allegra and Stephanie both grimaced. "My name isn't Carla and I was born in New York," Allie stated.

"Girl, you're whiter than white," Lula stated looking the teen over. "Skinny too."

"'cause I totally haven't heard that one before," Allegra deadpanned.

Joyce pouted slightly. "You're ugly too," she said determined not to be beat by a little girl.

"Those collagen filled lips make you look like a diseased cow," Allie said as she flipped through the playlist of her music.

Lula and Connie smiled. Sally walked over to Stephanie and hugged her. "Congrats."

Stephanie glared at Joyce. "Don't you dare insult my daughter," she growled.

"But there's so much to insult," Joyce smirked.

"Right back 'atcha," Allegra countered. "I could go on all day. But I have important things to do, and I'm afraid that by actually talking to you, I'm losing vital IQ points."

"White haired freak!" Joyce spat.

"Red head from a bottle skank?" Allie supplied.

"Bitch!"

"Whore, slut, bimbo, floozy, tramp, ho, home wrecker, woman of low moral fiber-"

"Enough!" Helen shouted. "If you are not a member of this family, get out of my house!"

Lula crossed her arms. "I'm not leaving until I get me some answers."

Helen pointed a stiff arm to the door. "Out!" she yelled.

Allegra's smiled widened and she leaned back in the recliner. "Buh-bye," she said putting on her best imitation of a flight attendant.

Morelli came into the house and looked at Stephanie. "Your daughter is something special."

Stephanie turned to Joe and pushed him roughly into a wall. "You!" she shrieked. "You pushed Allegra off the porch and practically blinded her. If anyone is special, it's YOU!" She poked a sharp finger into his shoulder harshly.

Morelli's gaze hardened. "She grabbed onto me, I didn't know she was at the edge of the stairs."

"Woah," Sally whistled as Grandma Mazur and Frank began shooing people out of the house

Helen directed her fury to her husband and glared at him. "We need to talk."

Frank looked at his wife. His eyes were as wide as saucers. After a moment he sighed and his shoulders sagged in resignation. "I know I shouldn't have kept this from you."

Helen pointed to the stairs. "Upstairs now," she ordered coldly.

"You still shouldn't have pushed her!" Stephanie continued. "God, you're such a self-centered prick."

"Self-centered?" Morelli asked. "You kept your daughter a secret."

Allegra frowned when she heard yelling upstairs. She looked at her mother fighting with Morelli. She grabbed Cayden's hand and pulled on it. He looked down at her gently.

"I know I should probably stay for dinner or something," Allie whispered. "But I really want to go home now."

Cayden frowned. Allegra's fire disappeared when too many people were fighting. He nodded and tried to get Stephanie's attention. He sighed when he realized that there was going to have to be some other way to stop Steph from ripping Morelli a new one. He put his fingers to his lips and whistled shrilly.

Stephanie and Joe looked at the college professor in shock.

"I'm taking Allegra home now. Tell your parents that they're welcome to stop by for dinner," Cayden said.

Stephanie stopped glaring at Morelli and walked over to Allegra's bowed head. She crouched down in front of her and sighed. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Allegra stated quickly. She looked at her mom and then at Morelli. "Detective Morelli may be a moron, but he didn't mean to hurt me. It's all good. I can see and the pain has pretty much going away. I'll just go home and lounge in my dark room for a bit. I'll be right as rain."

Stephanie laughed and placed a hand on Allie's shoulder. "I'll see you later. Okay?"

Allegra nodded as Grandma Mazur came back from the kitchen with Allie's dry coat. "Now that the town knows about you, do I get to show off my albino granddaughter?"

Allegra nodded mentally shaking her head. "I'll come to see you after school this week," she stood up and took her jacket. She made sure her sunglasses were in place before making her way to the door. She walked out quietly with Cayden who wrapped a comforting arm around her.

The four sudden visitors were standing outside. Joyce straightened up. "Cunt." She stated.

"I wouldn't be talking table cleaner," Allie stated. She looked at Sally. "From one musician to another. You rock."

"Thanks," Sally grinned. "You're pretty rockin' yourself. Nice hair."

"Thank you," Allegra hopped over to her car and threw her keys to Cayden. "Cayden can we practice Chopin's Etude in E, and later will you help me with Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp?" she asked happily.

Cayden smiled. "Yes, I'll help you with Fantaisie, but then you have to help me with dinner."

Allie smiled widened to reveal her white teeth. "I can do that," she stated. "Hey can we stop some place before we head home?" she asked as she slid into the passenger seat. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun.

"Sure, where do you want to go?"

0o0o0o0

Ranger sat in his office looking at Stephanie's file once more. He held back from doing a deep search on her out of respect, but now it was time to dive deeper into her past.

Tank showed up at the door and knocked. Ranger, there's someone here to see you."

Ranger looked up from the computer screen. "Who is it?"

Tank shifted slightly unsure of how to introduce the impromptu visitor. "She says she knows bombshell," he said.

Ranger mentally sighed, already guessing the identity of said 'she'. "Let her in."

Allegra popped up. "I'm so glad you said that," she chirped. "We need to talk."

_Of course we do,_ Ranger thought. "Hello Allegra."

"Buena Sera Mr. Manoso," Allegra said as she entered the office and took a seat in one of the black chairs in front of his desk.

Tank looked at Ranger slightly confused. It wasn't every day that a white haired teen popped up on the fourth floor demanding to speak to the man in charge. He closed the door and Allegra looked behind her, satisfied.

"What's this about?" Ranger asked.

Allegra rested her elbows on the arms of the chair and touched her fingertips together. "Oh come on Mr. Manoso. I think we both know why I'm here. This has to do with the relationship, or lack thereof, you have with my mother."

Ranger nodded mentally telling Allegra to continue.

"My mom cares about you, and from what little I've managed to gather from my mom about you, it's obvious that to some extent you care about her," Allegra explained.

Ranger raised an eyebrow. _This kid isn't normal._

"However, I must warn you. I won't let your noncommittal lifestyle hurt my mom."

"You won't let me?" Ranger asked. Surely she couldn't make him. He smiled slightly. This kid was amusing at times. "How are you going to do that?"

"Don't be smug," Allegra said leaning forward. "I may not be capable of taking you down psychically, but my dad's family has quite the influence with other affluent members of society. I'm sure there are other security companies out there who would be more than willing to get new customers."

"And not the snake reveals herself," Ranger spoke, leaning back in his seat. "You're like your mom; from what I hear, she blackmailed Vinnie into giving her a job."

"Blackmail?" Allegra asked innocently. "I would never stoop to such a low. I'm merely making a promise. We've both been disappointed before. I'm just making sure it doesn't happen again.

"You once told my mom that your love doesn't come with a ring attached. That's not love, its lust. I want my mom to be happy, but when you're constantly jerking her around as you have been doing, it makes her question not only her feelings for you, but your feelings for her as well.

"If I were my mother, I would have abandoned hope long ago. But then again, I'm not my mom. Only her sixteen-year-old daughter who has thus far extremely disappointed with the men in her life."

Allegra stood up. "Count yourself lucky. Detective Morelli's already on my shit list, you're on the I-Haven't-Decided-If-I-Like-You-Or-Not list," she explained. She shrugged her shoulders. "For now."

Ranger stood up as Allegra reached for the door. "Allegra," he spoke. "I understand your concerns, but I have no intentions of hurting your mother."

Allegra looked over her shoulder. "I certainly hope so," she smiled. "Ciao Mr. Manoso."

Ranger nodded. Allegra left the office and Tank came to the door a minute later and leaned against the doorjamb.

"Who is she?" he asked.

"Stephanie's daughter," Ranger answered. He sat back down and looked at his friend and second in command.

"Bombshell has a kid?" Tank asked, confused more now than ever.

"Long story."

"She's cute," Tank said. "Polite too."

"She's a chip off the old block," Ranger grunted. A mini Stephanie. He felt like the two together would keep him on his toes now more than ever.

Somehow, Allegra's _promise_ hit him hard. This teenager knew enough about him to actually peg him down as a man who favored noncommitment.

But, he suspected, no he knew that she didn't know the reason for his attitude towards marriage. He'd been married before and it hadn't ended well.

His phone rang and Tank left Ranger to his business. The Cuban-American looked at the familiar Miami number displayed on the caller ID. He answered it quickly, ready for something to distract him from albino teenagers and dark secrets.

"Hello?"

"Hey Carlos."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: And now I shall end it there. I guess you guys can only as guess the identity of our mystery character. I liked this chapter. It was fun. Especially the beginning. I mean how can you not like a little Joyce bashing here and there.

As for Allegra's behavior towards the end, everyone likes the fire she has and I really enjoy writing those little tid bits of spunk, but I needed to add more to her character. She's her mother's daughter and only wants whats best for Stephanie. So weeding out potential suitors is a job she can now take over.

I started up the forum that many of you expressed an interest in. It's called Pino's Pizzaria. So far we have a few topics up and we hope to have even more up by the end of the week. Check it out, post your opinions, and introduce yourself. My co-moderator and I are very interested to hear from you.

Ja ne.

Ren


	7. Chapter 6

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me. They are from the extremely creative mind of Janet Evanovich.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Six:

Cayden sat next to a tall man with curly black hair that added an extra two inches to his head. They were in the middle of a small symphony hall and watched Allegra pounding out a quick succession of notes on a grand piano.

Allegra came to a grand finish and looked over to the two men. She frowned obviously not satisfied with her performance.

The curly haired man cleared his throat. "Don't be disappointed Allegra. A month ago, you couldn't play Liszt's La Campanella without making a mistake every measure," he told her reassuringly.

"It didn't sound right," Allegra stated bitterly.

"You aren't hitting the notes hard enough," Cayden said. "Also, when you have to cross hands to reach the notes, you slow down just a fraction."

Allegra looked at the keys and placed her fingers on them once more. She started to place once more watch her fingers glide across the keys. She struck a chord wrong and stopped playing. She groaned and dropped her head onto the keys in front of her making the piano emit a mix of incompatible sounds.

"I can't do it," she said. "I really wanted to play this piece for mom, but it's too hard."

Cayden's facial feature's hardened. "Can't is not a word that is allowed in your vocabulary. It's a word that limits the mind, and if you say it one more time, you're grounded for a month."

Allegra's eye widened as she shot up in her seat. "Dad!" she yelped looking into the seat. "That's not fair."

Cayden looked at her. "Play it again," he ordered.

"Cayden," the curly hair man spoke. "She's been playing this piece for three hours; maybe we should let her take a break."

"Sorry Tony, Allie's not going to stop until she gets that 'I can't' attitude out of her system."

"You know I can hear you," she growled.

Cayden crossed his arms. "I don't practice these pieces with you at home, only to have you come here and give up. Play. It. Again."

Allegra sighed and started pounding on the keys in frustration. Tony winced slightly before Allie began playing the song from the beginning.

Five minutes later Allegra dropped her hands into her lap tiredly and frowned again when Cayden and Tony started clapping.

"Great job Allegra," Tony praised.

"I still was slow on the crossover," Allegra stated.

"It was hardly noticeable," Cayden said. "Ready to go home?"

Allegra stood up and gathered her music up. She slipped the sheets into a black folder and jumped off the tall stage. She hugged Tony and thanked him for his time.

"Your mother is going to love it when you play La Campanella for her," Tony told her. "When you get your violin back, we can start work on Shubert's Ave Maria."

Allie smiled and nodded. Ave Maria was her favorite violin piece to listen to and she was excited to start practice on it.

As Cayden and Allegra left the symphony hall, Allie looked at her father. "Thank you," she said. "I needed a good kick in the ass."

Cayden pulled her into a sideways hug. "Anytime," he laughed. "Don't doubt yourself so much, and you'll do just fine when you play a song."

"I hope James finishes the repairs on my violin soon," Allegra muttered. She was silent for a moment. "Hey dad?"

"What is it Allegra?" Cayden asked looking at the small bits of starlight in the sky.

"Can mom move in with us?" she asked.

Cayden thought about it. "You can ask her about it when she comes to dinner tomorrow," he told her. "I wouldn't mind having your mother around."

0o0o0o0

Ranger stood looking at his seventh floor apartment and thought about the changes that needed to be made.

Julie's mom had called with a proposition. Since their daughter had been abducted, Julie had been extremely verbal about getting to know Ranger. The two parents decided that visits would be a great way for the father and daughter to bond. Julie would come up once a month to spend a weekend in Trenton. This meant he would have to turn his office into a bedroom.

He was going to talk to Stephanie about showing Julia around the city. Maybe she could take her to meet Allegra.

Stephanie opened his front door and smiled. "Tank said you would be up here," she said. She had her hair in a ponytail and she wore a jean jacket over a flannel button up and a pair of heavy blue jeans with her CAT boots. "Can you go somewhere with me?"

"Where?" Ranger asked. He would put Ella in charge of setting up Julie's room to suit the girl's likes and dislikes.

"Do you still want to know more about Allegra?" Stephanie asked with a smirk.

Ranger nodded. Stephanie smiled and grabbed the keys to the Turbo. Ranger followed her out of the apartment and into the empty elevator. He looked at Stephanie to find her gazing back at him.

"Julie's going to start coming to Trenton for visits once a month," he told her.

Stephanie eyes lit up. "Really?" she asked. "Are you happy about it?"

Ranger gave a small nod. "Could you show her around Trenton for her visit?"

"Will you be with her?" Stephanie asked. More than anything Ranger needed time to bond with Julie and it would probably be easier if Stephanie wasn't there. _But if Allegra was with us, it would almost seem like a family,_ she thought.

Stephanie handed over the keys to the Turbo to Ranger. "You're going to 'The Pizza Shop' in Princeton. It's not as good as Pino's, but Allegra has an early dinner there with her friends every Tuesday night while Cayden teaches a later class."

"Pizza once a week?" Ranger asked slipping into the front seat. "How does she stay skinny?"

"Hungarian metabolism and a two mile jog with Cayden in the morning. She's much more motivated than I am."

A half hour later Ranger and Stephanie were seated at a small table in the popular pizza joint. Ranger quietly chewed a Cobb salad and looked around. He spotted a familiar geeky boy and looked at Stephanie.

"Is that a former skips kid?" he asked.

"Stephanie looked up from her Italian sausage and pepperoni pizza. She looked at the geeky teen with facial piercings up the wahzoo.

"What is Zook doing in Princeton," she asked more to herself than Ranger. She sat up a bit and looked at the teenager.

Zook walked over to a couple of equally geeky teen boys and began a complicated handshake. "Dude, I totally think I just did my best work."

Allegra entered the building laughing on the phone. She greeted the chef and walked over to a table that had been previously set up for six people.

"All right, I'll order for us." Allegra spoke into the phone. She was in a grey knit dress with black flannel leggings and knee high black boots. She wore a grey plaid scarf and a matching beret. She black rimmed glasses were lightly tinted grey.

Zook walked over nervously to Allegra. "Hey, I like your stripped hair," he said.

Allegra turned to look at him. "It's not stripped actually, but thank you," she said politely.

Zook looked at her and his face scrunched up in confusion. "But it's white," he said. He shook his head. "My name is Zook."

"Allegra," she waved slightly with a smiled.

Ranger looked at Stephanie whose face had taken on a slight grimace. "I could scare him off."

Zook shifted slightly. "What kind of name is Allegra?" he asked.

"Italian music term," Allie answered. "I wonder, where does Zook come from? Sounds like a name in a video game."

Another teen came in. He was Stephanie's height, with brown hair that was shaggy. His bangs fell lightly over his chocolate brown eyes. He held a violin case in one hand and an iPhone in the other. He was bobbing his head to some music. The teen wore a pair of loose fitting jeans and a black and white checkered flannel top.

The teen looked up and found Allegra. He held a hand up in a half assed wave.

"James!" Allegra exclaimed happily.

Zook frowned and headed back to his friends. Allegra looked at Zook confused. _I thought we were having a decent conversation,_ she thought.

'James' walked over and held out the violin case to Allegra. "Polished, restrung, and I replaced your bridge," he told her.

Ranger looked at Stephanie and stabbed a piece of lettuce. "Who is that?" he asked.

"James Isles, his family is good friends with Cayden," Stephanie said taking a bite of her pizza. "James's dad fixes string instruments. James is learning, so Allie sends her violins to the family once every two years for a little TLC."

Ranger nodded. Yep, definitely a spoiled child, but at least it didn't go to her head. Stephanie's daughter seemed like a grounded teenager who knew exactly what she wanted.

"She actually had two strings snap off a week ago after playing them too hard. She had to give it to the Isles' to make sure the strings breaking hadn't caused internal damage to the violin."

"Is that bad?" Ranger asked. Classical instruments were not his forte. Ask him about guns and he could answer any and all questions.

"To a violinist?" Stephanie asked sitting up straighter. "Earth shattering. That violin," she gestured to the stringed instrument. "is over a hundred years old. It belonged to her great great grandfather. She only plays it at the symphony halls and for school concerts. She uses a brand new one at home to practice."

"Why is it so important?" Ranger asked watched as Allegra pulled James into a tight hug. James turned his head so that his face was buried in her hair and hugged her back.

Stephanie smiled watching her daughter. "They're not dating," she clarified. "As a violin ages, it develops a more refined and developed sound. It's why Stradivarius's are so valuable. It's not only the family that made them that's important. It's the sound it makes after a hundred years."

"You know a lot about violins," Ranger said. "Do you worry about her dating?" he asked thinking about Julie.

Stephanie shook her head. "My daughter isn't interested in relationships right now. We talked about it a couple days ago. School and practice take up her time. She has a check list for the ideal boyfriend for when she eventually decides that she's ready, but there has yet to be someone out there to change her mind."

"She's asexual?"

Stephanie leaned back in her seat and looked at Ranger. "By choice," she said. "She definitely has an interest in dating, but her desire to pass school and get the most out of her music trumps it. I don't mind. At least she isn't letting someone charm her into a situation she would later regret."

Ranger looked at Stephanie's soft smile and sad eyes. "Do you regret having sex with me?"

Stephanie looked at him curiously. "Absolutely not," she stated. She looked back to her daughter, who was running her soft hands over the polished wood of the old violin. "I worry about her Ranger," she said changing the topic.

"All parents worry," Ranger said remembering Julie's abduction.

"She doesn't get overly emotional. Cayden will tell me about these episodes of catatonia when she's really stressed out. She's silent when she's really upset."

"She doesn't really seem like the kind of person to do that," Ranger stated flashbacks of Allegra's visit in his office made him mentally smirk.

"She's sixteen Ranger. Talking back is practically a job requirement it comes so naturally." Stephanie turned her attention to Zook. "Hey Zook."

Zook looked up from a pinball machine. "What?" he asked.

"Does your mom know you're here?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah, she dropped me off so I could hang out with some people from Minionfire," Zook answered.

Stephanie shook her head. Of course. "Zook, don't worry about Allegra, she's not in a position to date right now," she explained.

Allegra looked over at her mother.

Zook walked over. "How do you know?"

"I'm her mother, and she isn't allowed to date," she explained.

"I didn't know you had a daughter," Zook said.

"She lives with her dad here in Princeton. She's a very busy girl," Stephanie said. She patted the teen on the shoulder. "You'll find someone."

Zook smiled and walked back over to his friends. More teens entered the restaurant and walked over to Allegra's table. She greeted everyone before walking over to her mom. "Hey, come to watch another segment of life of a Princeton teen?" she asked.

Stephanie grinned. "Watching from a distance. No interruptions, I promise."

Allegra laughed and hugged her mom. "Love you," she said quickly before skipping back over to her friends.

"Fashion plate?" Ranger asked. Allegra's clothes seemed to be made of cashmere and expensive fabrics.

Stephanie laughed. "I wish. No, she prefers jeans and a t-shirt most days like me. Cayden has her dress up once a week."

Ranger mentally sighed. There was still a lot to learn about Stephanie's teenage daughter. But by watching Allegra and listening to Stephanie, he knew more than he did the night before.

"Allie wants me to move in with here and Cayden," Stephanie said. "I'm going to do it. I'll still work at the bonds office, but I'll be living here in Princeton."

Ranger looked over at Allegra who rested a hand on James's shoulder. "You can always stay at my place when you get tired of teenagers and professors."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well here's the next chapter. It turns out that there's more to Stephanie's relationship with her daughter. Stephanie's shown a bit more of her smarts. Maybe we'll see more of the mother daughter bonding in the next chapter. I thought it would be nice to put this in there. See more of what makes Cayden and Allegra work as well as what could be a developing relationship between Ranger and Stephanie. Oh la la.

Forum news: There are some book threads up for people to look at, an introduction thread, a questions thread, and the movie thread. The movie thread has a couple of cool opinions on there, so you might want to check it out.

Ren


	8. Chapter 7

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me. They are from the extremely creative mind of Janet Evanovich.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Seven:

Stephanie entered her bedroom covered in grease and slime. She dropped her purse onto her queen sized bed and headed to the connected bathroom. A second door opened up to Allegra's room.

Stephanie stripped down and started the shower.

She was finishing her shower when the door opened. She stopped massaging the shampoo into her hair and looked at the shower curtain. "Hello?"

"Mom?" Allegra's voice reached Stephanie. It was quiet and sad.

Stephanie felt her heart sink. Something was wrong. "Allegra, what's wrong?" she asked turning off the shower. It was only one and Allie wasn't out of school until three.

Allegra was silent as she sat on the bathroom counter. Stephanie stepped out of the showere and wrapped herself in a large plush towel. She wrung out her hair and walked over to her daughter.

"Why are you home so early?" she asked.

"John Masters is trying to get me to date him," Allie said. "He keeps… he keeps pulling me close and trying to kiss me. Today he put his hands on my hips," she explained as she looked at her hands. Touching was an issue with Allegra. It made her uncomfortable and very few were actually allowed to touch her.

Stephanie looked at her daughter and started to quietly fume. She thought about her rape, and instantly knew that she needed to be there for her child. Especially when it came to someone who was touching her without permission. "John Masters? He's the football player in your theater class?"

Allegra nodded and sniffed. "Why do I have to be so weird?" she asked as her bangs hid her eyes as they tended to do when she was upset.

"You're not weird," Stephanie scolded lightly. "You just see things differently."

"Everyone else in my grade has or is dating," Allie said. "Why am I so cautious about it?"

"You're not being cautious, you're being smart." Stephanie stated taking her daughters hands. "Do you want me to braid your hair? Like I would do when you were a little girl."

Allie looked at her mom sadly. Stephanie smiled and wiped the teen's tears away before they could fall. She pulled Allie off the counter and guided her into the bedroom.

"Let me just get dressed. Lay down on my bed for a little bit," Stephanie smiled.

She grabbed some clean clothes and her cell phone as Allegra nodded and crawled onto the mattress. She closed the bathroom door to provide some privacy. She barely moved into Allie's bedroom and dialed Ranger. He answered on the second ring.

"Babe," he spoke.

"I know that you're picking Julie up later at the airport, but could you have one of the guys run a name for me?" she asked.

"Everything all right?" Ranger questioned. Stephanie sighed.

"No, everything is not all right," Stephanie huffed as she pulled her pants on. "But, I'm not going to talk about that right now. I have a depressed teenager sitting on my bed and I need the name to be run."

There was a moment of silence before Ranger answered. "Go."

"Jonathan Masters," Stephanie stated. "I just need a little bit of information."

"Okay, I'm still bringing Julie tonight. Right?" he asked.

"Yeah, all right. See you later tonight," Stephanie said tiredly. She hung up and walked back into her own room.

Allie was texting someone and looked at her mom. Stephanie slid onto the bed and gestured for Allegra to sit up. She grabbed a brush from the nightstand and waited for Allegra to get situated in front of her.

"How did you get out of your last classes?" Stephanie asked.

"I went to the nurse and told her I started my period. She called Cayden. He called me, so I told him the truth. He told me to go home and that he would stop by the bakery on the way home."

Stephanie smiled at the thought of fresh éclairs and cream puffs. "Is he bringing anything special?"

Allie grinned softly. "A lot of stuff. I wanted some chocolate covered strawberries," she said. "He's bringing you some éclairs. He's not sure what to get Julie, so he was going to buy extras and then some cream puffs because those are his favorites."

Stephanie mentally drooled as her daughter pulled out her phone once more to play a game of teeter. It was times like this that Stephanie wished that her deep dark secret had come out long ago. She hated that she had to disappear every time her own flesh and blood was upset.

This Masters kid gave Stephanie a bad feeling. Allie wasn't a normal child by any means. Her genetic condition only added to the already abnormal being that made Allegra McAllister. She was thin, short, and had an impish demeanor. Cayden's brother lovingly called Allie his 'little pixie' whenever he was in town.

Stephanie mechanically brushed out Allie's long hair. "You're going to have to get your hair trimmed again," she said. "Your bangs too. They're getting to the point where they curl slightly."

"It's only to the bottom of my shoulder blades. Mostly I have it up while I'm at school. Especially for P.E," Allie sighed. She closed her eyes as her mom began dividing her hair up into three parts.

"I only mean you should take a couple inches off," Stephanie smiled. "How often do you style your hair?"

"Ponytails, buns, braids, and half-up half-down are the only styles I wear."

The doorbell rang throughout the hose and Allie tried to look at her mom. Stephanie continued to braid the long white locks of hair.

"If it's important, a call will come in on either your cell or mine."

Allie sighed. "Okay. Is Ranger going to bring Julie to the dodge ball tournament tomorrow?"

"I invited him and some of the Rangeman guys who have the day off. They all want to meet you. Lula and Connie are coming as well."

"I invited Zook," Allegra said. "Last Tuesday we had an interesting conversation about a game he plays."

"You aren't going to start playing Minionfire, are you?" Stephanie asked worrying about her daughter spending many hours on a computer playing an MMORPG or whatever they were called these days.

"No, I prefer Spore. You don't kill things," Allegra chirped.

"What's Spore?" Stephanie asked.

"It's a computer game where you create a creature and take it through the several stages of evolution," Allie explained.

"Sounds interesting."

Allie tilted her phone to make the computerized ball fall into a hole. "I don't play obsessively. Only on the weekends after I've finished my chores."

Stephanie tied Allie's hair off and hugged her from behind. "How did I end up with such a great kid?"

"But I'm not a good kid," Allegra frowned. "If I was a good kid, you wouldn't have worry about me."

"Parent's always worry Allie," Stephanie said. "It's a job requirement."

Allie focused on her phone. "Did you date in high school?"

"Yes," Stephanie answered letting her daughter go. "But that doesn't mean you have to," she added.

"I should probably start on my homework," Allie said. "Thank you."

Stephanie laughed. "You're welcome. Try and keep it braded. You have a tendency to pull it apart before the hour is up."

Allie slid off the bed and snuck her way into her own room. Allie looked at the grey walls of her room. They were covered with pictures of friends and family. Her bookshelf was crammed with books by Dickens, Doyle, Bronte, Dumas, and Asimov. Small little collectible Vinylmation Mickey's were scattered around the room on the many surfaces.

Her desk had a desktop and a Macbook set up, ready for use. The bottom shelf of the desk held a small stereo system and a rack of CD's.

Allie's bed had the sheets and blankets thrown about after a rushed morning. She grabbed a light blue t-shirt and a pair of navy sweatpants. She sat down on her bed and sighed sadly.

0o0o0o0

Ranger dropped Julie's suitcase into the trunk of his Porsche as the teen slid into the passenger seat. At fifteen she was five foot five and dressed in a Justin Beiber concert t-shirt and faded blue jeans. Within five minutes of her arrival, her eyes had been glued to a cell phone.

Julie's chocolate eyes focused on her dad as he moved behind the wheel. "How's Stephanie?"

"She's good. We're going to see her tonight," Ranger said starting the car up. "We'll be having dinner with her daughter and a friend of hers."

"She has a kid?" Julie asked surprised. She hadn't seen or heard of a daughter.

"A year older than you. I didn't know about her until recently," Ranger stated.

"I thought you and she were close," Julie said as she typed out a message on her phone.

"We are, but Stephanie has a right to keep her past a secret," Ranger said. "I didn't tell a lot of people about you."

"What's she like?" Julie asked. "Her daughter."

0o0o0o0

Allegra sat on a large couch flipping through the pages of an old leather bound book. Her navy sweatpants were pushed up around her knees, PHS Little Tigers was written vertically along the legs. Her baby blue t-shirt had a cartoon of Beethoven playing the piano. _Beethoven Rocks! _was written across the chest.

The doorbell rang and she looked up and towards the door. "Mom!" she yelled. "They're here," she sang with a small wicked smile.

Stephanie came out of the kitchen followed by Cayden. Allie put her attention back into the book, but was lifted gently off the couch by Cayden. Stephanie walked up to the door and pulled it open with a smiled. Ranger stood behind Julie.

Allegra looked at the Latina teen and placed all of her weight on one leg and crossed her arms. She shook her head and started babbling in Italian as she rolled her eyes.

Julie looked at Allegra's t-shirt and looked at her dad. "You never said she was a nerd," she said.

"Nerd?" Allie scoffed. "At least I don't support an idiot teeny bopper idol."

Cayden smiled nervously. "Well this should be fun."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well that was fun. I really liked writing Allegra and Stephanie's interaction. There will be more to come so bear with me. Updates are sure to be slow what with the school semester being a lot crazier than the previous.

Some notes: 1.) Spore: Is a real video game and I thought that if Allie played any sort of computer game it would be that. It's self-paced and can be really funny. 2.) Vinylmation Mickey's are a product put forth by Disney. They are small three inch figurines (There are some sold as nine inches) of Mickey. They come in little boxes that prevent you from finding out what figuring you have. They are collectible items and some of the designs are pretty wicked.

I hope you like it. Drop me a review telling me what you think. I do so love hearing from all of the readers. I have received so many tremendous reviews, and I love all of the support that this story is gaining.

Check out the forum I started. It's called Pino's Pizzaria. We're still in the middle of putting more book discussion on. My co-mod and I have seen some interesting opinions about the Stephanie Plum movie that is coming out this summer. There's a question forum for people to ask questions when you find yourself lost in Evanovich's books. I encourage you to check it out.

Ren


	9. Chapter 8

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me. They are from the extremely creative mind of Janet Evanovich. Nintendo also owns the Wii, and Disney has all rights to Epic Mickey.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Eight:

Julie crossed her arms and glared at Allegra. "Don't insult Justin Beiber. He's a great musician, and probably better than you'll ever be."

Allegra's eyes widened and she took a short intake of breath. Stephanie looked at her daughter and mentally sighed. Allie was a music prodigy, and Justin Beiber's popularity was in insult to Allie's appreciation of the classics.

"Try not to judge her before you get to know her," Cayden spoke softly. He looked at Allie. "Both of you."

Allie shook her head and turned on her heel. She sat down harshly on the piano bench and stated to play 'Flight of the Bumblebee'. When she finished she looked at Julie. "I'd like to see Justin Beiber do that."

Cayden shook his head. "Allie, it isn't nice to show off," he scolded her as he waved to Ranger.

"Hey Julie, how are you?" Stephanie asked. "I'd like you to meet my daughter Allegra and her dad Cayden."

"You're married?" Julie asked surprised. She was pretty sure Cayden was gay, then again she could be wrong, he gaydar had yet to reach its full potential.

"No, Cayden was a friend to me during my pregnancy, and adopted Allegra a couple months after she was born."

"Nice to meet you," Allegra said slipping into a more cordial manner.

"You too. My name is Julie Martine," Julie said after looking at her dad's blank face.

Cayden smiled. "I hope you like chicken, because that's what we're having."

"Chicken's good," Julie shrugged her shoulder indifferently. She looked at the setup of the house. "You have a lot of books."

"Cayden's an English Professor at Princeton," Ranger explained.

"Really?" Julie asked. "What part of literature do you cover?"

"Eighteenth and Nineteenth century. I also teach a Shakespeare course over the summer for anyone interested," Cayden answered with a small smile. Books were his thing. He was comfortable when he was around books. A lack of books meant a lack of self.

"Oh so like Gulliver's Travels and Frankenstein," Julie nodded. "I like those books."

Everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard the Happy Unbirthday Song played from the living room. Allie ran over to the coffee table and answered her cell phone.

"Hey James," she greeted happily.

Ranger gave Stephanie a questioning eyebrow. She shrugged her shoulders. "So sue me. You're Batman, she happens to have the Mad Hatter and March Hare on speed dial."

"Is she the modern day Alice?" Ranger asked as a smile pulled at his lips.

Allie looked at Julie. "I forgive you for your poor taste in music because it's obvious that there is some respect in you for classic literature," she said before sitting on the edge of the coffee table and turning her attention back to her cell phone. "James, I'm fine really. I just wasn't feeling the best, so I asked to go home."

"Julie, have you ever played Epic Mickey?" Cayden asked trying to occupy the remaining teenager so that Steph and Ranger could talk.

"I love Epic Mickey!" Julie exclaimed.

"I'm stuck in the small world ride, would you mind helping me out while Stephanie and your dad talk?"

"What other games do you have for the Wii?" Julie asked as they walked into the living room.

Stephanie headed upstairs to her room with Ranger following closely behind. Once the door was closed Stephanie got right to the point. "What did you find out about John Masters?"

"Senior at Princeton High, running back of the football team, B average student," Ranger recited from memory. "Did he do something to Allie?"

"He put his hands on my daughter and keeps putting her in an uncomfortable position," Stephanie grinded out. Her shoulders were tense and her eyes shone with fury.

"Is there anything I can do?" Ranger asked already setting a plan in place. If someone hurt Allie they hurt Stephanie. It was a simple as that, and no one hurt his Babe. No one.

"Stop me from pulverizing the kid's dick with a meat grinder." Stephanie growled.

Ranger mentally winced and pulled Stephanie into a hug. It appeared that Stephanie was saving face around Allegra, but now that a floor and a door separated the two it was evident that the mama bear was not happy that someone was touching her cub. Stephanie's fury was a National Geographic special waiting to happen.

0o0o0o0

Julie sat next to Allegra as she swung the Wii remote around. "Does your mom like my dad?" she asked.

"Yep," Allie popped as she flipped through a book of Old Italian text scanning the pages. "And I'm pretty sure your dad likes my mom."

"Yep," Julie mimicked. Her face lit up momentarily. "Oh, I just got a badge!"

Allegra looked up and glanced at the screen before nodding. "Problem is, my mom's afraid that your dad won't commit."

Julie paused the game and looked at the slightly older teen. "Well that needs to change."

Allie snorted. "No shit Sherlock. Are you suggesting that we get the ball rolling?"

Julie nodded. "That was really cool, what you did on the piano."

"And I will say that Justin Beiber is **somewhat** talented," Allegra conceded and mentally winced doing so. "Are you guys coming to the dodge ball tournament tomorrow?"

Julie nodded with a smirk.

"I have an idea, but your dad would kill me if he found out I was the only one who did it."

"But he won't kill me," Julie grinned. "Should we be talking about this so casually?" she asked.

"Probably not," Allegra answered flipping a page. "Can you text?"

"You're kidding right?" Julie asked.

"Sweet," Allie pulled her cell phone out and handed it over. "Enter your number and we shall converse during dinner."

"You're weird," Julie said as she entered her number into the iPhone.

"Tell me something I don't already know," Allie smiled. "I'm labeling you as the Cheshire Cat."

"Why?" Julie asked as she watched Allie edit the display name.

Ranger and Stephanie came into the room and saw the two girls sitting next to each other. Julie unpaused her game and Allie moved back to reading her book.

"Babe, I think we missed something," Ranger whispered.

"Yeah, no shit," Stephanie whispered back. "Didn't they hate each other five minutes ago?"

Cayden peeked into the family room and waved them into the kitchen as he started to brown the chicken. "Those two are planning something," he said. "I'd be careful. It's been my experience that when they're quiet like this, there's cause for concern."

0o0o0o0

After a calm and quiet dinner, the evens of the dodge ball game the next day did indeed have cause for concern.

Ranger entered the Princeton High School gym to find Allegra sitting at the top of the bleachers with Zook and James. Julie ran up to meet them and the four started talking in low voices. Every once in a while Allie or Julie would look down at the adults.

Lester, Bobby, and Tank entered the gym and looked around. Each one wearing a small smile.

"So, Bombshell, where's this daughter we've heard nothing about?" Lester asked leaning against a wall.

Stephanie pointed p to Allegra. Allegra waved before looked at Julie as she continued her conversation. Lester waved back, but it went unnoticed by the teen.

A teen with shaggy blond hair and blue eyes squeezed past the group. He looked up at Allie's little group. "Hey Wonderland Brigade! Meet on the gym floor!" he shouted. Allie stood up with James. The albino grabbed Zook and Julie by the wrist and dragged them down to meet the blond teen. They were joined by a boy and girl of medium height. They had short brown hair and chocolate eyes. The girls hair had been styled in such a way that she looked like a woodland pixie.

The adults watched closely at the group's interaction and Ranger mentally profiled the dynamics.

"Wait?" the blond teen said looking at Zook and Julie. "Why do we have new comers?" he asked.

Allegra grinned and gesture to Zook. "White Rabbit, I'd like to introduce you to Zook, the March Hare," she then gestured to Julie, "And Julie, the Cheshire Cat."

Lester started laughing and Allie turned to look at him sternly. "No words are allowed from Robin Hood's band of Merry Men. I'm pretty sure you don't want to be labeled as Friar Tuck!"

Bobby bit his lip to keep from laughing. Lester straightened himself up slightly and looked at the five foot tall teen and grinned. "Really, then who am I right now."

Julie leaned over and whispered in Allie's ear as Lester watched in curiosity.

"Friar Tuck!" the girls chorused.

"Good news," Bobby said clapping Lester on the shoulder. "You're fat and a drunk."

The blond smiled. "This is good," he said. "If we have two more players on our team, we'll be even with Pan and the Lost Boys."

Allie crossed her arms and began to pout. "Mason, why did you have to go and ruin a perfectly good play by J.M Barrie? Naming the football players after characters in Peter Pan was a horrible idea. I love that play," she complained.

Ranger felt himself smile. Stephanie's cast of characters were DC comic book heroes and her daughter went around naming people after characters in books. He began to wonder who the Caterpillar would be.

Cayden looked at the former Ranger. "I hope you're okay with your daughter being inducted into a gang of intellectuals."

Ranger looked at him. "Do they do drugs?" he asked.

"No."

"Have sex?"

"No."

"Kill people?"

"Only in video games, and that's if you consider cartoon blobs of ink people."

"She's fine," Ranger said. It wasn't likely that Julie would be getting into trouble while she was in Trenton.

James looked at Ranger and Stephanie. "Can you two help with the set up?"

Julie and Allegra headed for the back of the gym and waved to the group. They split off and moved in separate direction halfway across the gym.

Ranger nodded knowing that Stephanie would have dragged him into it. The two adults followed James while Cayden handled the rest of the introductions for the Wonderland Brigade.

"Everyone, meet Mason Strong, the white rabbit, and my niece and nephew John and Wendy McAllister. Also known as Tweedledee and Tweedledum," he said.

"I'm Dee," Wendy smiled. She pointed to her twin. "He's Dum."

"I thought I was Dee," John pouted.

"You keep thinking that," Wendy smiled as she patted her brother on the shoulder sympathetically.

James opened a closet door and pointed to a thing of stack plastic cones on a high shelf. "We need those cones to set the boundary lines. Both stacks."

Stephanie and Ranger entered the closet and James quickly slammed the door shut and locked it with the gym keys. He smirked and leaned against the door. Allie and Julie walked over and the albino took the keys from him after getting a high five.

Ranger pushed against the door only to realize that it was a reinforced steel fire door. "Julie," he growled, quickly coming to the cold hard truth. Allegra and Julie had successfully executed their plan.

Stephanie sighed. "Cayden said they were planning something."

Stephanie's phone rand and she answered it on speaker phone. "Allie open the door," she ordered.

"Robin Hood and Maid Marian need to figure things out before the great Dodge Ball exhibition," Allie stated. "Please enjoy your small dark confines and call the Cheshire Cat when you've come to an executive decision. Good day to you, sir and madam."

Stephanie hung up and looked at the whites of Ranger's eyes.

"Our daughters are a volatile mixture," she said. "They should never be trusted together. Ever. Do you understand?"

Ranger let out a full thousand watt smile. "I understand Babe." He said. "I guess this means we need to talk."

Stephanie crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "Yep."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Yay another cliff hanger. I actually really really really liked this chapter. A lot of it was random as I was writing. I would be sitting on my couch and suddenly an idea would pop into my head. The Wonderland Brigade was one of these random thoughts.

So I've written out the next chapter, but have yet to type it up, so I'll likely be posting it tomorrow. The dodge ball tournament will be the start of chapter ten, whereas the next chapter is leading up to it and is somewhat humorous. At least to me it is.

Okay, now I need y'all to review, but I also want to know some things from you. I've decided to stick with Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men for the Rangeman crew, but I need to assign specific roles to each of the main merry men I plan on using. Tank will obviously be Little Jon, but who should be Will Scarlet, and who shall be Friar Tuck? If I've missed a character that should be in there let me know, but so far those are the only two. I need to assign Bobby and Lester a Robin Hood Identity. And they can't be a bad guy.

Please submit a review telling me what you think of the chapter and your choice for the Robin Hood identity.

A quick note. For anyone visiting my profile, you may think that I've developed a bit of a crazy side. It's written as Ren Kayashima and her views on Shane (me). Please don't worry. I'm perfectly sane. I only did it because of a running thing with a fellow author. Her profile is quite funny, so I changed mine up to be funny as well.

Forum New: I've posted two new threads. One for the next Stephanie Plum novel and the other for the first novel in the Diesel/Tucker series. Check it out. Already we've got the discussion started. Post your thoughts and we will be happy to listen.

Ren/Shane


	10. Chapter 9

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Nine:

James, Allie, and Julie came walking back to the group of teens, security employees, and an English Professor. Each one wore an accomplished grin. Cayden mentally began reading a list of stunts that Allie and James had pulled as they grew up together.

"Where's your mom?" he asked.

"Stephanie's having a talk with my dad," Julie said. She turned to look at Tank. "As far as my dad is concerned, your lock pick set is at home and you can't find the key."

"What did you do?" Cayden asked darkly.

Allegra and Julie smiled innocently as James shifted uncomfortably. "We only gave them a quiet place to sort things out," Allegra explained. "Which may, or may not be a locked closet. Just accept our evil ways and move on."

Cayden's shoulder sagged and he looked at James. "How did they wrap up in this mess?"

"I can't say no to Allegra," James shrugged. "I've tried. Every time I do, I end up feeling really guilty. It's for a good cause. Can't you just over look this minor infraction just once?"

"It depends," Cayden said. He looked at Allegra. "How long do you plan on keeping them locked in a closet?"

"Well, we're hoping Ranger doesn't pick the lock with his god like powers in the B and E department," Allegra said placing a finger on her chin. "No more than an hour. Sooner if they agree to date and actually be in a relationship."

"Allegra, Ranger doesn't date. Stephanie told you this," Cayden stated throwing his hands up in the air.

"Well then, it's too fricken' bad, because casual sex just won't do," Allie defended. "It jerks mom's emotions around, and I won't stand for it." She crossed her arms stiffly.

"So you locked them in a closet!"

"It'll work, trust us," Julie smiled.

Cayden pointed to Allie. "I don't trust her, what makes you think that I would trust **you** and Allie **together**?"

Tank sighed. A nagging voice in the back of his head told him that it would be a bad idea if Allegra and Julie were left to their own devices. Another voice told him that they were two teenage girls looking out for their single attractive parents.

"One hour," he told them crossing his arms. "Then you give me the key."

"Okay," the girls smiled.

"You guys are devious," Lester said rocking back on his heels. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I like it."

Allegra focused on someone behind Bobby and Lester. She looked down at the polished gym floor and moved closer to James. James moved in front of her. His gaze hardened and Cayden turned to see what was going on. Mason, John, and Wendy looked around nervously.

Tank, Bobby, and Lester looked at the new group of teenage boys. From their Jerseys, it was obvious they were football players. At the head of the group stood a six foot tall teen with the same shaggy brown hair and brown eyes as James.

"Jay move," The head of the pack smirked. "You're blocking Allegra and it's very rude."

Allegra shifted slightly and moved even closer to James. Zook and Julie sensing the tension moved to either side of Allegra.

"John, please, leave us alone," Allegra stated peeking from behind James's shoulder.

"I just want to make today a little more interesting," John Masters spoke. "I propose a bet between our team leader and your team leader."

Allegra looked at him and shook her head furiously. "I'm not making a bet with you."

"Afraid you'll lose. I mean I have a team of football players, and your team has a ballet dancer, my cousin the violin repairman, the mathlete, the hacker, and these two new comers. Oh and I should forget you, the music prodigy."

"What do you want?" Allie asked stepping into full view. Her glare was hard and she stood straight. No one insulted her friends.

"Simple, my team wins against your, and you go on a date with me."

"No!" Zook, Julie, and James stated firmly.

"Okay," Allegra said brushing her friends' objections off. "And if **my** team wins, you, and your gang of miscreants leave me and my friends alone. I don't want you to put your hands on me. I don't want you to talk to me, hell I don't want you to look at me."

John's smirk grew. He held his hand out and Allegra raised an eyebrow. She ended up shaking hands with the football player.

James looked at John and glared at him as he pulled Allegra to a corner of the gym. The two friends started arguing quietly shaking their hands and their heads.

Cayden looked at John. "Lay a hand on my daughter again, and my brother, who works for the FBI, will find any reason to put you in jail."

"It's a fair bet Mr. McAllister. You saw your daughter agree to the terms," John smiled.

"My brother won't see it that way," The English Professor said. "Allie is infallible in his eyes and if you do anything to hurt his 'little pixie', he will hunt you down. You see these three men right here?" he gestured to the merry men. "They work with Allie's mother. Tell me, do you think you can take them on?"

John smiled and walked away. Julie curled her lip back in disgust. "What a dick!" she said. She looked at Tank. "Let me guess, dad's already assigned two of you to make sure he doesn't hurt Allie?"

Lester and Bobby nodded. "We'll be your daughter's best friends for a while," Bobby told Cayden. "Low profile. Think of it as having two former military guardian angels."

"Don't interfere with her studies and we won't have a problem," Cayden said heading to the bleachers as people started filing in.

All the while Ranger and Stephanie were in the closet. Both had taken a seat on the cold concrete floor. Stephanie out of feel and Ranger sat next to her to console her and her slight fear of enclosed spaces.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?" Ranger asked.

"She needed a larger cast of characters," Stephanie answered hugging her knees. "Before she started to open up in school, it was just James and her, so they went by Sherlock Holmes and James Watson."

"Allie was Sherlock?"

"Yeah. I prefer the Mad Hatter and Alice," Stephanie smiled. Somehow the pair worked. "Allie came up with the Wonderland Brigade, but she refused to be the leader, so Mason took charge as The White Rabbit."

"How long have these guys been friends?"

Stephanie sighed. This wasn't what they were supposed to be talking about. "Allie and the twins are cousins, so they've grown up together. James too because his family has been friends with the McAllisters for a hundred years or something," she answered. "Mason and Allie have been in the gifted program together since kindergarten. They're a tight knit group, but have always been friendly and open to others. Bringing Zook and Julie in is good for them. It expands their world."

"Allie excels in other area aside from music?"

"Music will always be the area where she is comfortable. She knows the sound of every key on a piano by heart, but she finds science fun. Mostly she works harder than most," Stephanie said. "She can make smoke bombs, rockets, boats, popsicle stick roller coasters. They're all projects she did with Cayden and I as she grew up because that's where we wanted her focus. We didn't want her to get wrapped up in a society where looks are valued above what you can bring to the table intellectually."

"He's an English professor, and he conducts Physics experiments in his free time?"

"That English professor tested at the genius level when he was eight," Stephanie stated. "I don't think our daughters had this in mind when they locked us in here."

"We've been in here twenty minutes. I would have opened the door but there's no lock on this side," Ranger said. "What's there to talk about?"

"Ranger, Allegra and Julie want us to talk about a relationship," Stephanie said tiredly. The security expert who probably killed people back in his army days was a complete dunce when it came to teenage girls.

"But we have a relationship," he told her.

"Yes, a relationship that is driven by sex and instinct," Stephanie said. "Allie doesn't think that's good enough. She never has."

"She's sixteen, and hasn't started dating. How does she know about stuff like this?"

"She's not stupid. Anyone could figure it out. She's objective. It's always been like this. You need a clear head to look at something, you give it to Allie. The point is, sex is no longer going to cut it," Stephanie explained. "Even if it was just once. Do you realize that I haven't been on a date for years? Not with Joe and certainly not with you."

"Babe."

"Don't Babe me Manoso. I'm tired of being jerked around by the men in my life. You either love me enough to date me or you don't."

Stephanie let out a deep breath. She had finally said everything she needed to and a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

As soon as the breath had left her lips, Ranger had wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. She lost her senses for a moment only to quickly regain them and push him off.

Ranger gained a wolfish grin. "If we were to date, where would we go to dinner?"

Stephanie stared at him dumbfounded. "Are you asking me out?"

"On a date I believe."

Stephanie shook her head to clear her thoughts. She smiled. "Anywhere. I don't care. I just want to go on a date with you."

"Okay," Ranger said. "Seven o'clock tonight. Julie and Allegra can hang out, maybe see a movie."

"Oaky."

Ranger pulled his cell phone out and dialed his daughter's number. "You can let us out now."

"Tank has the key. We're signing up as a team," Julie chirped. "I hope you didn't do anything stupid." She hung up and a minute later Tank opened the door.

"Please don't kill them," Tank said. "Together, they're kind of cute."

"Together, they're evil little masterminds," Stephanie growled. As they entered the gym they found Julie talking with Zook and the rest of the Wonderland Brigade.

Ranger and Stephanie took a front row seat next to Cayden and in front of the Merry Men. They looked around and found Lula and Connie enter with Sally Sweet.

Allie and Julie separated from the group and walked over to their parents. "Sorry, but your progress was slow and we were impatient," Julie said.

"We're so glad you figured things out," Allie said. "Even if it was something small."

James walked up and waited for Allie's undivided attention. She looked up and smiled. "I propose a bet."

"What kind of bet?" Allie asked. "I already have the bet with John."

"If I catch more balls than you, you and I will go to dinner alone sometime this week."

Allie's chin dropped and her mouth hung open. Julie started laughing and sat next to her dad as Allie tried to speak.

"I…uh… mmm…" Allegra babbled. She looked at the ground to try and regain some of her composure.

"And if Allegra catches more balls?" Cayden asked.

"Then I'll be her pianist for solo ensemble. She picks the piece," James said. "I won't argue."

Allegra looked at her mother helplessly. Her cheeks had a small pink tint. She looked at James defeated. "Okay," she whispered.

James smiled and pulled Allegra into a hug. "Don't choke up on me; we need to win against the lost boys so you don't have to go on a date with John."

Allegra pulled away. "I'm not going to lose to that dolt cousin of yours," she said gaining a determined gleam in her eyes.

Stephanie looked at Cayden. "Did I miss something?"

"A lot, I'll talk about it with you in a moment," Cayden answered.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well the next installment has been posted. Obviously. I hope you liked it. I'm in the middle of writing the next part, but it won't be posted nearly as fast as this one. I'm going to be checking my email throughout the day, so I should be quick to respond to any questions.

It looks like Will Scarlet will be Bobby, and Friar Tuck is reserved for Lester. Thank you to everyone who provided their input on this past chapter.

I have a twitter if anyone is interested in following me. I post the links to my chapters as well as quick little updates and blurbs. They're written as if Ren Kayashima was a separate person from myself, so please don't think I'm crazy.

Check out my forum. There a good number of threads on it for you to check out. I don't mean to sound like a bother, but I created it specifically for the group of readers and writers on this site to create a sense of community.

Ja ne.

Ren/Shane


	11. Chapter 10

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Ten:

"What!" Stephanie shrieked. She whipped her head around to stare at her daughter. "Allegra are you crazy?"

"Mom it's a game," Allie said. "And one I don't plan on losing." She looked around the gym and spotted Helen and Frank Plum walking in with Grandma Mazur.

Allegra skipped over to her grandparents. "Welcome to Princeton High's annual Dodge Ball Tournament," she smiled. She pointed towards the small, but growing group of friends and family. "Mom's over there. She's saved you some seats."

Helen smiled. "Thank you," she said. "So this is where you go to school?"

Allegra nodded. "The classes here are really cool. The teachers are nice."

"What kind of grades do you get?" Helen asked.

"A's," Allie answered. "If I want to take classes at Princeton next year, I have to maintain a four point 'o' GPA."

"That's nice. You're coming to dinner with your mother tomorrow right?"

"Yes, she said that Valerie was going to come with her husband and children."

"It will be a tight fit around the table, but we'll manage," Helen smiled.

"M'kay," Allie hummed. "What are you going to make?"

"Baked pork chops," Helen answered looking at the curious teen.

Helen mentally sighed. There was so much she didn't know and it was tearing her apart. At least she knew about Valerie's children. Angie was prim and proper, like every twelve year old ought to be. Mary Alice was ten and still thought she was a horse. Lisa was two and had taken on the life philosophy that everyone was a friend, and not some creep who might want to kill you. And the youngest was only a year. Isabella was only just starting to babble and walk, but if you put her in a baby walker, she was hell on wheels.

Allegra was sixteen and a complete mystery. Helen didn't know her favorite color, movie, book, or food. All she knew was that she got straight A's and lived with a gay English Professor. Frank had tried to talk about Allegra, but Helen was determined to find out everything directly from the source.

"Allegra, do you think that you would like to help me make dinner tomorrow?" Helen asked.

Allegra looked up as they continued walking. Her purple eyes held a gentle curiosity and Helen felt herself smile. Allie smiled back. "I'd love to. Baked pork chops are my favorite. What time should mom and I show up?"

"Five should be a good enough time to prepare and get the pork chops in the oven."

"Okay, I'll be at the house at four forty-five. Does that sound good?"

Helen relaxed a little bit and nodded. "Sounds perfect."

"Could we perhaps do a homemade cheddar mac and cheese to go with it? I can make it myself. It's relatively simple," Allie questioned as they reached the bleachers.

Helen started to beam. Stephanie had a daughter who could cook!"

"Of course."

Allegra looked across the gym at the rest of the Wonderland Brigade. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go meet up with my friend. The tournaments going to start soon and we need to formulate a plan of attack. I'll be back after the game."

Frank took a seat. "Aim for the knees and knock the, down," he said.

"You got it granddaddy," Allie smiled. "I'll see you later Gran."

Helen looked at Stephanie. "She doesn't jump of roofs does she?"

Stephanie gave a small smile. "Only when there's a swimming pool below her," she answered.

"**All right ladies and gentlemen**." A young student spoke into his microphone. "**We've come to the final match of the day**. **Our two final teams have come to the final battleground in a game that involves strength and power. Both teams have played well, and now we will see who will come out the victor in this brutal high school game**"

Lester leaned over and spoke to Bobby with a playful smirk. "Where are we? A pro NFL stadium?"

"Shh. The Wonderland Brigade is facing off against the football team," Bobby hushed. His eyes were glued to the gym floor.

Connie sat next to Lester as she painted her nails a fire engine red. Lula and Sally were looking at a catalog of gowns trying to find something for Sally's next gig. They would occasionally look up to watch the game, but had lost interest after no one had been pegged in the head or the nuts.

"I remember playing this in high school, I was always out first," Sally said. "It was fine with me; I was more interested in puzzles."

"Fuckin A," Lula nodded.

The Dodge ball game was played with six red rubber balls all in play. The boundary lines were dictated by the black lines of the gyms basketball court. Presently all red balls were lined up on the halfway line, and each team stood on opposite sides of the gym.

Both teams waited anxiously for the shrill whistle to signal the start.

"**Okay, remember each contest is three minutes and there are three rounds. Best of three wins the game and the tournament. Good luck players.**"

Wendy had taken a seat in front of Stephanie As an extra she wasn't required to play, and Julie had happily switched places with the one team member who wasn't really interested in playing.

The P.E coach gave his whistle a tweet and the football team rushed forward and grabbed the three balls assigned to them, while Allie's team hung back to watch.

Zook and James were the first to move as they sprinted to the middle of the court.

John Masters got ready to throw a ball at Zook, as another team member aimed for James. Julie and Allie both ran forward catching both balls to the chest.

"**Oh, and McAllister takes Masters out, while Martine takes out O'Connell.**"

Allegra smirked. "Looks like we're winning Masters."

Masters moved to the sidelines angrily. "Get the girls out! They're the easiest."

"Yeah, right, you wish," Julie laughed as she tagged another football player in the shoulder.

"**And Martine takes out Darbandi with a shot to the shoulder. I think this is turning out to be a quick game**."

Allie dodged a ball as she handed hers off to Mason.

John McAllister was tagged in the leg and moved to join his sister on the sidelines.

Allie took a ball from James. "So far so good right?"

James quickly moved in front of her to catch a ball. "Four down, two to go."

"I'll take the guy on the left and you take the guy on the right?"

"As you wish," James said as he made a bowing movement before hurling his ball at a players feet. Allie held her own ball out as a shield, sending the other ball bouncing back to the opposing side.

She smirked slightly and aimed her ball at the final player's knees and waited like a cheetah watching for the appropriate time to strike out at her prey. She launched the balls forward and smiled as she watched the football player fall to the ground.

"**Round one goes to the Wonderland Brigade!**"

Stephanie jumped up and punched her fists in the air. Happy to see the first round over and done with. Hopefully the next round went to Allie's team. She watched as her daughter gave Julie a high five. Stephanie sat back down and looked at Ranger. "Julie's having a lot of fun with Allegra."

Ranger nodded. Seeing his daughter happy made him feel relaxed and almost at peace. He looked over at the Masters kid and saw nothing but rage, and it was all directed at Allie and James as they hugged. He got the sinking suspicion that winning a bet would not stop John Masters.

The next round was over in a minute, and this time the Wonderland Brigade had not come out victorious.

Stephanie's friends and family watched as the team of misfits huddled together to make a plan. A minute later they broke apart and moved to their starting line. Ranger placed a reassuring hand over Stephanie's. "They'll win. They play smart. The football team plays hard."

"But they can hurt Julie and Allie," she said.

Lester leaned forward. "Allie and Julie have grit. They can't be taken down by a simple rubber ball. That would mean the world was coming to an end."

Stephanie smiled weakly. The P.E coach blew his whistle and Allie and Julie sprinted forward.

"**And our two leading ladies make the first move. So far these two have been the real power players, with Isles catching balls left and right.**"

Stephanie looked at Cayden. "How many balls have they caught?"

"James has caught fifteen, Allegra's at fourteen."

"**And the female McAllister catches a ball, taking Jackson out of the game**."

"Fifteen," Cayden corrected.

Allie backed up holding her ball out to provide protection. She stopped next to Julie. "We're still good?"

"Yeah," Julie answered before throwing a ball at a football player in midair. The ball caused him to lose his footing and fall on his back.

"**Martine takes O'Connell out again. Zook takes out another player after catching a ball from the opposing side.**"

"Two more," Allie smiled.

She threw her own ball and watched it hit another player in the shin. John Masters watched and waited as Allie turned her attention away from him. Once she wasn't looking he threw the ball at her.

Allegra instinctually crouched down and covered her head as red flashed in the sidelines of her vision. She heard a loud _thunk_ of the rubbed ball colliding with something and looked up in shock.

"**And Isles catches the last ball of the game, making the Wonderland Brigade this year's winner of the Dodge Ball tournament**."

James looked down and grinned widely. "I win," he said.

Allegra just stared at him before being tackled by Julie. "We did it!" she cheered.

Allegra laughed and returned the hug. "Yeah, we did."

Ranger watched as Julie pulled the petite Allegra up to a standing position. Allegra's smile grew as she continued to laugh, and Wendy pranced over happily. Stephanie smiled and looked at Ranger.

"It's hard to believe that last night they hated each other," she said.

"Nothing like a brutal game of Dodge Ball to bring teenage girls together."

Julie ran up to her dad. "Can I spend the night at Allie's?"

Cayden looked at Allegra as she walked over. "Would it be all right if the Wonderland Brigade came over to hang out for a bit? Also, can Wendy and Julie sleep over?"

"It's fine with me. I'll call Mike. Chinese or Pizza for dinner?"

Julie looked at her dad. "Please!" she pleaded.

"Cayden are you going to be at the house the entire time?" Ranger asked. This would work out. If Julie spent the night there wasn't a rush to end the date with Stephanie.

Cayden nodded as he pulled out his phone, getting ready to call his oldest brother and fellow professor at Princeton. Mike McAllister taught Italian.

Ranger looked at Julie. "Okay, but don't stay up to late."

"Thank you," Julie smiled hugging him tightly.

"Chinese," the girls chorused after a second.

"We can talk about you're going to wear when you go on a date with James," Julie giggled.

Allegra's eyes widened as she started to stutter. Cayden looked up from his phone. He laughed and pulled his daughter to di next to him. He wrapped an arm around her and hugged her tightly.

"Don't worry about it," he told her. "At least it isn't a date with John Masters."

Allegra gave a depressed sigh. "But I don't know what to do on a date."

Stephanie laughed and looked at her daughter. "Dates are easy. You talk and you get to know the person more."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Can I just say that writing the commentator was so fun! I felt like I was in a NFL stadium, and it made me smile. I tried to do the Dodge Ball game justice, but I'm not sure if I did. So let me know. I looked at the rules for Dodge ball and incorporated them into the game, so it should be close to the truth.

The next chapter will have the date and the sleep over, because I feel like we need to see both. It should be a lot of fun. Right now I'm in the process of writing this fic and wrapping up a fic in the Criminal Minds area. I've finally ended the writer's block on a couple Criminal Minds fics, but it will be a while until I start writing them.

Forum News: I added another thread for Pino's Pizza where you can go and recommend a story. There are a lot of fics on there right now. There are some great works there.

Anyway, leave me a review. It's great to hear from the readers.

Shane


	12. Chapter 11

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me.s

0o0o0o0

Chapter Eleven:

Stephanie stood in her room and stared at her closet. Cayden, Wendy, and Allegra sat on her bed wearing identical bemused grins.

"Mom, it's just a date," Allegra said. "I'm sure you can go in jeans and a t-shirt and he would still have sex with you."

Stephanie turned and stared at Allegra. "How is it that you can say these things and you've never dated?"

Allegra leaned back on her elbows. "I'm socially inept, not stupid. Everyone can see the desire in Ranger's eyes as he looks at you."

Cayden nodded and looked at his watch. "Ranger and the rest of the Wonderland Brigade are supposed to arrive in ten minutes. So you have five to get dressed."

He pushed himself off the bed and gestured for Allegra and Wendy to follow. After Cayden and Wendy left, Allegra pulled a navy knit dress from the closet and a pair of black jeans from the dresser. She held them out to her mother and smiled.

"That should work," she said before skipping out.

Stephanie studied the outfit as she held it up to her frame. It gave off casual dress flair and she decided that somewhat dressy was better than jeans and a t-shirt.

Five minutes later, the doorbell rang and Stephanie almost messed up her lipstick. She glared at the floor willing her x-ray vision to work, but let out a sigh. She left the bathroom and headed downstairs. If she hadn't spent two hours trying to figure out what to wear, she would have had more time for make-up and hair.

Ranger stood in the living room in a charcoal grey cashmere shirt and black jeans. He smiled when he saw Stephanie at the second floor landing. Allegra, Wendy, and Julie blocked Stephanie's path as they sat on the stairs.

"Dad, you have to treat Stephanie to a nice dinner," Julie said.

"Mom, don't worry about your looks," Allegra stated tipping her head back. "You look great."

"And the most important thing is," Wendy began.

"Have fun!" the three chimed.

_What have I done_? Stephanie shook her head in disbelief. All three girls were thinking and acting on the same wavelength.

The teenagers moved and Stephanie walked up to Ranger. "You look nice," she said.

"You look better," Ranger said giving his signature thousand watt smile.

"If you don't get out of the house right now, they'll start make smooching noises," Cayden spoke from the family room. Wendy's brother sat next to him, bored as he watched for the rest of their friends to arrive.

Stephanie and Ranger left the house and as soon as the door closed, the girls rushed to the front window and pushed the curtains back to watch.

"Hey look chivalry isn't dead," Allegra said.

"That's sweet. Julie your dad's holding the door open for Aunt Stephanie," Wendy sighed as if she was watching a classic romance movie.

"He's not a caveman," Julie countered.

"Girls, leave the adults alone," Cayden said.

Allegra let the curtains drop. "So now what?"

0o0o0o0

Ranger and Stephanie sat in a small Italian Restaurant. The tables were a pristine white and a small vase held an arrangement of colorful carnations. A waiter had poured them each a glass of expensive red wine.

"Where did you find such a place?" Stephanie asked as she looked around and the many young couples.

"I know the owner," Ranger smiled. "Rangeman provides security for his home."

"Oh," Stephanie mused as she looked at the menu. Her mouth started to water when she saw the description of the creamy sausage fettuccini alfredo.

"Babe, you just went to your happy food place," Ranger said. "Do you want to tell me what you saw?"

Stephanie's eyes snapped up and she looked at her date with wide eyes. She had been caught quietly salivating at the mere thought of the alfredo sauce. So many delicious chesses blended together.

"I was looking at the grilled chicken over a penne and topped with a marinara sauce," she lied. But that sounded good too.

"Are you sure it wasn't the sausage fettuccini alfredo?" Ranger smirked.

Stephanie kicked her foot out stubbornly. "Don't tease me."

Ranger actually laughed when he calmed down. He looked at Stephanie and gave her a gentle smile. "You can order whatever you want," he told her.

Stephanie pouted. She wanted the fettuccini, but knowing Ranger, AKA the health nut, he would inwardly grimace. When the waiter came over she ordered the grilled chicken dish. As soon as the waiter left, Ranger stood up.

"Excuse me," he said as he walked towards the kitchen and bathroom.

Stephanie pulled out her cell phone and quickly texted Lula.

**I'm on a date w/ Bman. I think I blew it.**

She received a reply a few seconds later.

**Grl. What did u do?**

Stephanie looked around the restaurant.

**I don't kno**.

**Grl, u better fix it.**

Ranger came strolling back before she could reply and Stephanie discreetly put her phone back into her bag.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"No worries," Stephanie smiled.

0o0o0o0

"So, if your mom is going out with her dad," James pondered pointing his chopsticks to Allegra and then to Julie. "Doesn't that mean that you would be step sisters if they get married?"

Cayden sat with the Wonderland Brigade around a large dining room table. It sat all eight comfortably as they passed around the Chinese take-out boxes around. Allegra dipped her dumpling in a small dish of soy sauce. "Yeah," she answered. "But, only if Ranger stops being stupid and proposes to my mother."

"Dude," Zook said as a green bean hung out of his mouth. "She just called your dad stupid."

"It's true," Julie shrugged as she popped some cashew chicken in her mouth. "But, he rushed into marriage before with my mom. I don't think he want to move fast."

Cayden looked at Julie. "Your stepdad adopted you didn't he?" he asked. "At least that's what Steph told me."

Julie frowned and nodded. "Ron's cool, but he's really strict."

"Was he always like that?" Mason asked.

"No," Julie answered. "He used to be really cool. Mom's become strict too."

"Probably because you were kidnapped by Edward Scrog a few years back," Allegra stated. "I know that mom and dad were hyper vigilant after that incident."

Julie looked at Allie as the albino loaded her fried rice with soy sauce. "You know about that?" she asked.

"What happened?" Zook asked, completely in the dark.

"The entire Wonderland Brigade aside from Zook knows about the Scrog kidnapping," John said. "Uncle Cayden pulled Allie out of school for a bit and took her to the Hamptons, just in case."

"Steph called and said that she was being targeted and that a little girl was also kidnapped. I wasn't taking a chance that the creep would get his hands on my daughter," Cayden explained.

Allie looked at her food. "Mom tells me almost everything," she said. "I like hearing all the crazy stories and then I share them with my friends, but that time…" she looked at Julie. "Mom was really worried about you and your father after he had been shot."

"Does your dad always drive a Porsche?" James asked changing the subject.

Julie laughed. "Sometimes he drives a F150."

0o0o0o0

Ranger and Stephanie were still tiptoeing around the small talk portion of the evening when the waiter brought their meals. Ranger had orders spinach ravioli with an herb and butter sauce. The waiter smiled and placed the sausage fettuccini dish in front of Stephanie. Stephanie looked at it and took the rich aroma in and slid her gaze to meet Ranger's.

"Looks good babe," he said. "Eat up, you're going to need those carbs," he gave a wolfish grin.

Two hours later the two adults were pushing their way into the seventh floor apartment as Ranger disrupted the hallway camera feed. The two didn't have to worry about teenage girls, cat calls, or disruptions.

0o0o0o0

Allegra hopped onto her bed as Wendy braided Julie's long brown hair. "Hey Julie," she spoke softly as she dropped her glasses onto the side table. "Do you like living with your parents?"

"Why?"

"I don't know," Allie answered as she grabbed a while teddy bear to hug. "As you were talking about your mom and stepdad over dinner, it seemed like you were sad."

"They control everything," Julie said. "My internet access, who I can text, the stuff I do at school. I have ten minutes to get home."

Wendy bent over to look Julie in the eyes. "Are you kidding?"

"No, I'm not. It's crazy," Julie moaned.

"Brutal," Allie stated. "Dad lets me hang out for a bit after school. We even go to pizza once a week. Just us teens."

Julie's eyes widened. "That's sounds so fun."

"We just talk about school," Wendy said. "Hang out, stuff like that."

Julie frowned. "This is really fun."

"What? Now don't tell me this is your first sleep over," Allie snorted. She stopped when Julie's face didn't change and actually grew sadder.

"Allie," Wendy scolded.

"Jules," Allie said crawling. "I'm sorry. Hi, my name is Allegra and I'm a social dunce."

Julie laughed slightly. "You're so lucky to be able to do all at this."

"It's not luck," Allie mumbled. "We only have these privileges so long as we keep our grades up it's a system of trust. As long as our grades stay up, we can go to parties, dinners, and sleepovers."

"Technically our grades can't drop below our quarterly grade point averages from the previous quarter," Wendy said. "If you have a 'B' average and your GPA drops below a three point 'o', you lose Tuesday Pizza with the gang."

"It still sounds great," Julie sighed.

"Well when you come to Trenton, we'll do something with you," Allie stated. "You're pretty cool."

"Thanks."

Allie hugged her tightly. "We should go to bed soon."

0o0o0o0

Stephanie woke up to the sun shining in her eyes. Ranger's arms held her close. She smiled and relaxed as she closed her eyes to fall back asleep. She shot up when Julie and Allegra flashed in her head.

"Shit, I didn't go home last night!"

Ranger pulled her back down and hugged her closer. "They're teenagers. I think they know what sex is."

"It still doesn't mean I want them to know," Stephanie grumbled.

Ranger buried his face in her back. "Babe, go back to sleep."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well first I like to wish Joseph Morelli a happy birthday. He may not be my favorite character, but it's his birthday today. Second, I just watched an episode of Harry's Law. That's a great show. This week it had four albinos from Tanzania. It brought up some really interesting points about the treatment of albinos in certain African countries.

Anyway, I've given you the date and quite the interesting sleep over conversation. It was a lot of fun to write. Hopefully I can get another chapter out soon. Drop me a review letting me know what you think.

More shameless self-promoting. I have a twitter under my pen name. You can follow me. I post little tidbits as well as links to my fics. Check out my forum, it's got some interesting topics and I'm in the middle of making more. If you have an idea of something you would like to see, send me a private message.

Ja ne.

Shane


	13. Chapter 12

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twelve:

Stephanie sat in her kitchen look at an old scrapbook. She had pulled her hair into a pony tail and her flannel top hung open over her jeans. She stopped on a photo of her, Cayden, and Allie on a small boardwalk. She smiled as she remembered the trip.

"_Mom, I want to make a __**big**__ sand castle!" a five year old Allegra exclaimed. She was in a light pink sundress and wore a large hat to block the sun from her pale and easily burned skin._

_Stephanie laughed as she walked along the beach. She was in a pair of jeans shorts and white t-shirt. Cayden followed them in khaki slacks and a baby blue polo. His parents had just bought a family beach home and had called Cayden to look at the place. He had brought Allie and Stephanie along for a small vacation._

"_Allie, we'll make a sand castle next time," Cayden said. "I forgot your beach toys at home."_

_The child's face fell as he dreams were crushed. Stephanie smiled and scooped her up into a tight hug. "That's okay, we can go to the ice cream shop in town," she said as Allegra clung to her neck tightly. "I think that's a good idea. Maybe get a waffle cone."_

"_Yeah!" Allie said excited as her mother squeezed her tightly._

"Konnichiwa Okaa-san," Allie greeted as she entered the kitchen.

The sixteen year old was in her normal clothing. Light blue jeans, a white t-shirt under a flannel black and white checkered button up. The sleeves of her button up had been rolled up past her elbows. Her white hair was in messy bun and her lightly tinted glasses rested at the edge of her nose.

Stephanie smiled. "You went with Japanese greeting this time."

Allegra gained a contemplative frown. "I'm running out of greetings."

"So start over," Stephanie said.

Allegra dropped her backpack on the kitchen table and walked over to the fridge. She grabbed a pitcher of tea. "I guess I could do," she answered. "You're home early."

"I only had older skips. They generally don't put up too much of a fight," Stephanie explained.

Allegra poured herself a glass of tea and added a couple of packets of _Equal_. She thought about something and continued as if nothing happened. She came to the kitchen table and sat next to her mother.

"How was school?" Stephanie asked as she stood up. She grabbed a tin of cookies and brought it over. She dropped it on the table to signal the beginning of their routine. Talk about the day over cookies.

Allegra took a cookie before speaking. "It was interesting. In English we've started talking about Lord of the Flies and the topic of Nature and Nurture."

"That's a messed up book," Stephanie said remembering high school book discussions.

Allegra nodded. "Hey do you want to hear a little blurb I thought of today?"

"Sure," Stephanie smiled.

"First are you familiar with Sweeny Todd? The musical I mean," Allie asked.

"Yes," Stephanie answered.

Sweeny Todd was a dark musical, but somehow, Stephanie could sit and watch as the demon barber slashed throats, and Mrs. Lovett would happily bake her special 'meat' pies.

"Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies: Adding more substance to a Modest Proposal," Allegra smiled wickedly as her mother snorted.

"Oh, that's so awful Allie," Stephanie smiled.

"I'm probably not the first one to think of it, but I thought I was clever," Allegra stated. She took a bite of her mint cookie and grinned after she swallowed.

"You are most certainly clever Allegra," Stephanie stated. "The McAllister's are all very clever people."

"You're clever too mom," Allegra told her as she grabbed another cookie. "You have a college degree in English, like dad."

"Allie, I slept in the library and failed math twice," Stephanie said. "Douglass College also doesn't have a similar reputation to Columbia University."

"It's still a college degree," Allie said.

"Yes, but you're going to Princeton next year," Stephanie said.

"Only for music theory and Italian. I'm still stuck taking Japanese at the high school." Allegra slouched in her seat and crossed her arms. Obviously not pleased with herself.

"Why did you take Japanese," Stephanie asked.

"Because I don't like French, and Spanish isn't recognized in several doctoral programs as an acceptable second language," Allie explained as unloaded her backpack.

"What?" Stephanie asked confused at the idea of Spanish not being a second language.

"For doctoral program, there's a requirement that you know how to read two languages. Spanish isn't one of the recognized second languages because many feel that it is a simple language," Allegra explained. "So I've been taking Japanese at school and Italian through a rec program that Uncle Mike teaches. It gives you high school language credits."

"Don't they teach Japanese at Princeton?" Stephanie asked.

"Yes, Beginning, Intermediate, and advanced," Allied nodded. "It's all part of the East Asian Studies Major. But, I won't be taking Japanese at the University. The teacher already doesn't like me because I corrected him on some historical facts."

Stephanie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Why do you know all of this?"

"I get bored when I visit dad," Allie said. "I read their pamphlets a lot."

"How much homework do you have?"

"Minimal."

"Okay, do you homework and I'll find out what Cayden's going to do about dinner." Stephanie stood up and walked over to the sink.

"He's bringing burgers home. The really good ones from BurgerMaster."

Allie pulled out some binder paper and a math text book. As she was about to start, her phone rang. She answered it and Stephanie looked at her curiously. "Hey Hatter, how's it going with the French homework?"

There was a pause as she listened. Stephanie smiled as Allegra developed a deep blush. "Tomorrow?" she asked. "Ah… Um… I…"

Stephanie took the phone from her daughter with a smile. "She'll be ready at seven tomorrow evening," she hung up and kissed the back of Allegra's head. "Relax Allegra. James wouldn't put you in an uncomfortable position unless he had a reason."

"I don't even know how this is going to work," Allie said. "He's my best friend."

"Best friends make the best boyfriends."

Clearly in need of a place to think quietly, Allie gathered her things up. She grabbed the tin of mint cookies and headed upstairs. Stephanie sighed Allegra had a lot to learn about being a teenager.

0o0o0o0

Allegra shifted uncomfortably in her cotton button up dress. It was a pale blue with a white belt around the waist and a simple collar. She wore matching converse all-stars and had a tan canvas messenger bag. Her long hair was left down and formed several curls and waves around her face.

Stephanie walked up with Ranger. "Honey, where's Duke?" she asked.

"Garage, I thought he might jump on Ranger," she whispered as she fidgeted.

"Duke wouldn't knock him over," Stephanie said as she headed to the garage door. Duke came bounding in a minute later. He ran up to Allegra and plopped his head into her lap. She bent over the dog's head and hugged him with a small smile.

The doorbell rang and Allie looked up in apprehension. Ranger studied her tense shoulders, wide eyes, tight jaw. All of this pointed to one thing: She was scared.

Stephanie laughed and opened the door and gestured James in. He was in jeans and a fake leather jacket. He smiled at Allie who gave a weak respectful smile in return. Allie looked at Duke. "You're sleeping in my room tonight. We have a lot to talk about."

Duke's coal black eyes twinkles as he smiled making Ranger snicker. He wondered is Julie was a big fan of dogs.

"Shall we go?" James asked.

Allie stood up and hugged her mom before walking out with James. A minute later as James pulled away from the curb in his Honda Civic, Stephanie dragged Ranger out of the door, determined to see that Allie's first date went well.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well, I couldn't squeeze the actual date into this chapter, but hopefully I'll be able do the date justice with the next chapter. Also there are going to be a couple of chapters where Allie isn't interacting with the main characters. I'm going to have some scenes with her and the Plum family. Maybe some interaction with Mooner and Dougie, a little Merry Men interaction.

Also, I'm introducing the next plot turn in the chapter after next. It should be a lot of fun.

Check out my twitter for fun facts about my stories as well as links. You may find them interesting. Also, I follow you if you follow me.

Drop me a review letting me know what you think. I love to hear from all of you. How do you think I did with this small chapter?

Check out my forum, I'm in the middle of writing up a bunch of threads, but school and my writing takes precedence. You'll still get a new thread this weekend.

Ja ne.

Shane


	14. Chapter 13

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Thirteen:

Stephanie sat in the passenger seat of Ranger's Turbo. Her eyes were glues to the silver Honda Civic in front of them. She was alert and ready to tell Ranger directions, should he lose site of the car for one second.

"Babe, something tells me that if Allegra finds out that you're following her, you'll be in a world of hurt," he told her, as he reluctantly followed the car at a safe distance.

"If you were given the chance, wouldn't you follow Julie on **her** first date?" Stephanie asked.

Ranger remained silent, but he couldn't argue with her on that point. He wanted to be there for Julie's first date, but she was in Miami and he was in Trenton. That made supervising dates difficult.

0o0o0o0

James pulled up in front of his family's workshop. Allied looked at the simple front shop door in confusion. The gold lettering on the glass read: _Isles and Sons Instrument Repair and Crafts. _"What are we doing at the shop?'

James got out of the car and walked around to open Allie's door. He smiled down at her. "You'll see. Come on," he said holding his hand out.

_He's being so charming._ Allie thought. She took his hand and he pulled her gently out of the car. She unconsciously patted her dress down.

He held her hand as he guided her into the small craftsman shop. He opened the door and pulled her in before closing the door and locking is securely behind him. "What's up with the dress?" he asked.

"Wendy told me to wear it," Allie stated defensively as she stopped walking.

James shook his head and quietly laughed. "You look cute, but you shouldn't try to impress me. I like you best when you're being yourself. Preferably yourself in clothing you usually wear."

Allegra's gaze wandered over the hollow outlines of violins, violas, cellos, and guitars. She started to feel more at ease as they moved farther into the shop. James opened a door to the woodshop. It had been swept clean and a newly constructed violin rested on a work table.

"I finished making this one today," James said. "I'll stain it tomorrow, and then string it in a week."

Allegra picked it up. "It's beautiful," she mused. She held it delicately in her small hands and examined the 'f' holes. "Crafting violins is becoming a lost art. Not many people make them."

"It's not a Stradivarius, but my family has been making string instruments since before they came to the United States," James said as he watched her. "It's something we've always done, and probably will continue to do until The Orchestra is a thing of the past."

"That will never happen," Allegra stated firmly. "In order to fully appreciate the music of today, you must first appreciate the music of the past."

James walked over and took the violin from her hands and set it back on the table. "Let's go up front," he said.

"I still don't see why you brought me here,' Allegra said.

"It's simple really," James smiled. "If I took you to a restaurant, you'd be even more scared than you are now," he told her.

Allie blushed as her shoulders tensed up slightly. She swallowed trying to make all of the butterflies in her stomach go away. "I'm sorry," she said. Her head hung low in embarrassment.

James chuckled. "I ordered Italian for delivery. Chicken ravioli in Alfredo sauce is your favorite right?"

Allie nodded as she continued to look at the ground. James reached up and tucked her hair behind an ear. "I have Beauty and the Beast to watch."

Allie started to giggle as she looked up at him. "You're the only guy I know who likes Disney movies."

"Beauty and the Beast is the best," James grinned widely showing a perfect row of white teeth. Allie was reminded of her mother's description of Ranger's smile. "It also happens to be your favorite movie slash musical of all time."

Allegra regained her composure and walked around the shop with no particular destination in mind. She ran her fingers over the soft sanded tops of incomplete fraction sized violins. "You put a lot of thought into this," she said. "And, I'm ruining it all because of my nervousness."

"I don't think it's been ruined. We're merely getting started."

Allie stopped at an upright piano. She started playing Joplin's _The Entertainer_. James walked up behind her and watched her fingers jump playfully over the keys.

"You and your first love," he said.

Allegra smiled and closed her eyes as she pictured the sheet music in her mind. "Now that's where you are wrong. My first love is the violin."

"My mistake," James laughed jovially. "How about we put the movie in," he suggested.

"You don't have to do all of this," Allie sighed as she opened her eyes.

"Allegra, I like you," James said. "A lot. I'm doing _all_ of this because I want to make you happy tonight."

Allie blushed even more than the last time and James thought she might turn a beet red. "James, I…" she stopped and swore under her breath. "Why!" she exclaimed aggravated in her inability to speak. She turned away slightly.

James tried to hold back his laughter. "Why what?"

"When you do that," she pointed at him. "I can't talk to you."

James grinned and rocked back on his heels. "That's because you like me too," he said.

"Cheeky bastard," Allie said.

James pulled Allie into a hug. "Come on Allie," he said. "Relax some. This is supposed to be a night for fun."

"Says you," she grumbled into his chest. She took a deep breath and picked up the scent of Old Spice and relaxed. He used the correct amount and it was delicious.

James playfully dragged Allie to the cash register and opened the bottom cabinet to the left to reveal a TV and DVD player. Directly across from it was a small set up of pillows and blanket. It had been created years ago in the interest of keeping the Isles children out of trouble and more importantly, out of the customers way. Allegra grabbed the blanket and childishly wrapped herself up in its warmth, leaving only a small corner of the blanket for James.

"What are you going to do when dinner gets here?" he asked her as he popped a DVD in.

0o0o0o0

"Really?" Stephanie asked herself. "You're hiding behind a counter. Bad things happen behind counters Allegra." She looked over at Ranger. "They couldn't possibly know that we were following them. Could they?"

"Are you done spying on your daughter?" Ranger asked from behind the wheel. How had he gotten himself dragged into this mess? He mentally sighed and leaned back in seat a little more. He watched as a small delivery car arrive, boasting fine Italian cuisine. A man got out with a bag of food and walked over to the door. Both James and Allegra came out from behind the counter.

Allegra stared out onto the street and Ranger knew that she had spotted them the teenage girl jogged over as Ranger rolled his window down.

The teen raised a questioning white eyebrow. "Really mom?" she asked. "I can understand following me if this was John Master, but it's not. I'm at a music store with James."

Stephanie leaned forward and looked at Allie. "What kind of mom would I be if I didn't supervise my daughters first date?" she asked with a smile.

"I don't think supervise is the right word for this situation," Allie pointed out as she crossed her arms. "Spying seems much more appropriate. Mom, go home, where it's warm and there is food to boot."

"Home by eleven," Stephanie said as her stomach gave off a loud gurgle. "Are you okay?"

Allie smiled and nodded. "I'm fine. I built this up to be more of a horror than it really was. I'll see you later. Love you."

"Love you too."

Allie turned on her heel and ran back into the shop. Ranger looked at his passenger with a placid face and a gentle smile. "Satisfied?"

Stephanie slouched in her seat. "No, but we've been made and if we stay, she'll get angry."

0o0o0o0

Stephanie sat down at the kitchen table with a large bowl of homemade chili. It seemed that her diet had come to a balance when she moved in with Cayden and Allie. She was mooching meals off her parents only once every two weeks, and birthday cake was only reserved for desert. Ranger took a seat across from her and started on his own bowl of chili.

"I was going to give Allegra up for adoption," Stephanie spoke. She looked at her dinner as Duke came trotting into the kitchen for a snack.

"Why?" Ranger asked. He leaned back in his seat waiting for an answer. Stephanie was completely wrapped up in Allegra's small world. So much, that after he found out about the child, it was hard to imagine Stephanie ever considering adoption.

"I was eighteen and had been raped. Adoption seemed like the only choice. But, as my pregnancy progressed," she trailed off.

"You changed your mind."

"I was walking in Central Park with Cayden," she began as she though back to her memories of her time spent in New York. "I was four months pregnant. We stopped for a moment to rest because my ankles were starting to swell up. We saw some children running around playing tag. It was then that Allegra kicked for the first time. That night, I decided that I was going to raise her, even if I had to do it alone in order to keep my rape a secret."

Ranger smiled and took another bite of chili. "Was that when Cayden said he would be Allie's dad?"

Stephanie nodded. "Being raped is something haunts me every day, but I never would have had Allegra," she said as she looked Ranger in the eye. "Cayden's mother once told me that bad things will happen to a person for a reason. We may not like what happens, but there will always be something better that will stomp out the bad. Allegra was that better part that came around to get rid of the fear and the self-loathing. Her smile alone can bring a little light into my dark moments."

It was then that Ranger realized the bond that Stephanie and he had. Like Allegra, Stephanie's smile could light up his world. It wasn't that he hadn't noticed this bond before. He just never knew how strong it actually was.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: All right all right. James is a dorky teenage boy, but admit it, that would be an ideal first date for someone like Allegra. Or any girl for that matter. I liked writing the end. Lots of fun and cuteness going on in this chapter. I do apologize if it's a little too short. It's longer than the last at least. Chapters tend to vary in length for me. They will never be less than a thousand words and I try not to go over three thousand, but a chapter will often times call out to me 'Hey, you need to end it here!'

Forum News: I've put up a thread for writers to talk about the process they go through when they write. Maybe we can all find some similarities in our specific style. I'll be putting up some more book threads this week as well.

Twitter: I have a twitter, and you can follow me. You have to send a follow request, that isn't such a big deal. I protected my tweets to prevent unwanted followers who want to sell me stuff. Check it out. I post little fun facts for my stories as well as links for the latest chapters.

Shane


	15. Chapter 14

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Fourteen:

"Dad please," Julie pleaded. Her lips formed a slight pout and her eyes were wide. "I've never been to a party before." The father and daughter were just finishing up dinner and Julie had mentioned a party that she wanted to go to with Allegra and the gang.

The party was being held at some new club, and that's what made Ranger's inner "dad-mode" click on.

Ranger mentally created a list of things that could possibly go wrong at a club made for the teenagers of New Jersey. For some reason he thought of _Jersey Shore_ and visibly shivered.

"The entire Wonderland Brigade is going to be there. It will be a lot of fun," Julie stated as if Ranger was blind to the Wonderland Brigade's fun factor.

"Julie it's at a club. I'm saying no."

"It's a club designed for teens. Only state approved employees can work there, and you have to have a high school and state I.D just to get in the door. There is only soda, water, and juice. Dad, every parent in Princeton trusts that club to keep their kids in a safe party environment."

Ranger shook his head and crossed his arms. He leaned back in his seat at the small dinner table. Ella had prepared a large dish of Chili Verde.

"Allie set up a system," Julie stated pulling her last card on the table. "They never get their main drink from the club. Or food for that matter. They come with unopened bottles of water and that's it. They even eat a large dinner beforehand. We also stick to the buddy system. Nothing can happen when we're in a group."

"How is it that in only two visits, you and Allegra have become the best of friends?" Ranger asked completely oblivious to the mind of a teenage girl.

"We talk to each other every day," Julie said leaning back in her seat as she pushed her empty dinner plate towards the center of the table. "Allie helps me on my math homework too. She's a year ahead of me in math, and it works out."

Ranger watched his daughter's bright eyes as she pulled out her cell phone to text. Probably Allegra, to complain that her father was being a 'big fat jerk' or something like that. "What about your friends in Miami?" he asked.

Julie frowned. "They're just people I hang out with because they're in choir. We don't really talk at lunch. We only eat," she mumbled.

"You don't hang out on the weekends?"

"Mom won't let me," Julie said. "She's afraid I'll get kidnapped again."

Ranger closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Now he couldn't say no to one of the only opportunities for Julie to act like a teen. Allie wouldn't go to a place where she wasn't safe. Right? Maybe he could talk to Rachel later about lightening up on Julie. Just to see if it was true.

"Okay, but you can only stay until eleven. Bobby and Lester will be outside the club while you're there. So if you run into trouble call them."

Julie jumped up and ran around the table to huh her dad. Ranger wrapped his arms around her smaller frame and smiled.

When Julie pulled back she grinned. "Also, it's a costumed event, so we'll be going as our characters."

"You're a cat," Ranger said. How were they going to pull this off?

"Apparently Wendy has it all figured out. This is going to be fun," Julie smiled. She skipped into her new room happily and shut the door with her foot. Only two visits and she was already mimicking Allegra's door shutting technique.

Ranger shook his head and stood up to clean up their dinner.

0o0o0o0

Julie stood in a navy pleated skirt and a navy thermal layered under a purple striped vest to mimic the Disney Cheshire colors. A headband with molded purple cat ears rested on her head and a matching tail hung from the skirt. She grinned at herself in the mirror and turned to look at Allie and Wendy.

"It's the female version of the Ouran Cheshire," Allie said.

Wendy frowned. "I didn't know what else to do. I googled Cheshire Cat costumes and saw the picture. I made the costume from that model. What do you want me to do?

Allie stood up and pulled a plastic tub out from under the bed. She pulled out a wrapped package. "This is probably better. More comfortable and Ranger would be less likely to object."

"What is it?" Julie asked.

Allie pulled out purple striped shorts, a matching tail and leg warmers. "One time we got mom to be the Cheshire cat, but our first attempt at the costume was too small. Try these on."

"When are you going to get dressed?" Julie questioned as she took the shorts to examine them.

Allie headed to her mother's room where her outfit had been set out. "Now, Wendy, you can change in the bathroom."

"Which Alice are you going to be? There are so many renditions of the tail." Julie said.

"Alice from the syfy special. Her outfit is more suited for me, and it's easier to move in," Allie explained.

"So, I guess James is going at the Hatter from that same special?" Wendy asked.

Allie nodded. "You have fifteen minutes to get dressed and ready. We're going in my car and will meet the boys at the club."

"Okay," Julie and Wendy chorused.

0o0o0o0

_PUSH_ was a new club made specifically for teens in high school. It provided a safe place to party and even boasted a tight screening process for all future employees. The only way you could bring something that was a liquid in was if it was unopened, and even then they discourage such things. The owners trusted their own drinks. Bouncers were place strategically throughout the club carefully watching drink tampering and possible fights. Since its opening there had yet to be an issue. This would change tonight.

The club had a very youthful scene. Neon colors, black lights, small booths to socialize, a small room set up with popular board games, with an arcade next door. A juice bar sold anything from water to Smoothies.

The Wonderland had shown up at _PUSH _at eight o'clock and weren't planning on staying there much longer than ten. With two of their little gang located in Trenton, they had to have at least thirty minutes to drop them off and it was always best if they were home before curfew and not at it.

The twins for corresponding outfits. Wendy was in a black straight line skirt, red button up t-shirt, and a black pair of combat boot that hadn't been laced up all the way. Her brown hair had added strips of red in it. Her brother John was in black jeans, a red long sleeve button up, combat boots, and black suspenders. On their right arms hung loose fabric armbands that read 'Dee' and 'Dum'.

Mason had dawned a maroon suit jacket, white rabbit ears, black slacks and a large pocket watch which he held loosely in his hand. Zook's March Hair costume was a tattered version of his white rabbit counterpart. He wore a brown worn out corduroy suit jacket, brown floppy rabbit ears, and black jeans.

James wore a fake leather coat, a paisley silk collared shirt that sent you on an instant flashback to the sixties, brown pants, and hiking boots. He had on a simple leather brimmed hat and his hair had been gelled to stick up in certain parts.

Allie wore a light blue dress that ended at the knees, maroon tights, black high heeled boots, and a knee length maroon coat with a light blue trim. The added three inches of height still made her the shortest member of the group. Hanging off of her shoulder was a messenger bag. She slipped on a pair of light sunglasses as she looked around at the flashing neon lights.

The club was already filled with teens dancing under the neon lights dressed up at bananas, grapes, witches, doctors, and French maids.

Allie looked up at James. "I'm starting to thing pizza at home was a better idea!" she yelled over the booming speakers.

Before James could speak Julie dragged Wendy and Allie over to the dance floor. The sudden force cause Allie to stumble in her heels and she started to laugh. "Let's have some fun!" Julie yelled as she started to shake her head to the music.

John and Mason headed for the room full of board games and disappeared quickly. Zook and James watched the girls for a moment as they weaved into the darker corner of the dance floor.

"So, you're dating Allie now?" Zook asked as he watched Julie swish her hips back and forth.

James looked at him. "I don't know. We like each other, but we only went out once. We're busy with our jobs and school. When we aren't working, we're at the symphony hall practicing Rhapsody in Blue." James had a far off look in his eyes as he remembered the date he had planned for Allie and him.

Zook pulled a sealed water bottle from his uncharacteristically large pants pocket and took a swig. "Why that song?" he asked as he walked towards the arcade. He just wanted to see the selection.

James followed him and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Allie had his water bottle. He would just get it from her later. "We'll be playing it with the orchestra and the band in a month," he explained.

Allie moved off of the dance floor awkwardly and pulled a water bottle from her bag.

"If I'm Peter Pan, does that make you my Wendy Bird?" John Masters spoke from behind her. Sure enough he was in a Peter Pan costume.

Allegra turned. "Nope," she popped. "I'm Captain Hook, I've even got the coat." she moved away and looked for Julie and Wendy and found it impossible after they had been swallowed by the crowd of costumed teens. She started to feel uneasy by herself.

Masters followed her closely as she ducked and weaved through the crowd. _Get to the juice bar._ She thought. The juice bar would allow her for find someone from her group. She was sure of it.

When she arrived at the bar, Masters took the seat next to hers.

"Come on Allie, can't we be friends?" he asked giving the younger teen a charming smile. But she wasn't moved.

"Masters, we can't be friends. The only thing on your mind is sex," she stated. "I'm sixteen, and I'm certainly not ready to accept any consequences of having intercourse too early in life. Now, please leave me alone." She ordered a cranberry juice and sprite after the server looked at her curiously. She pulled a ten out of her bag and handed it over.

As Allie looked around, Masters leaned forward and whispered in Allie's ear as he dropped a small powder into her drink. "What do you see in my cousin anyway?" he asked with a smirk.

Allie jumped and backed away. She grabbed her drink. "Well for one," she began. "He's not a jack ass like you."

"Allie, you barely know me," Masters said his charming smiled returning.

"I know enough to stay the hell away. They write things about you on the bathroom walls," Allie said. She took a large nervous gulp of her drink and continued to keep her distance as she moved around the circular bar.

"Can we go someplace quieter to talk?" Masters asked as he moved around the bar with her. "It's a little loud don't you think."

"No, I like it right here," Allie sighed. "Lots of watching eyes and more juice." Why was nobody telling Masters to shove off?

"Where is James?" I thought you two would be attached to the hips," he smirked.

Allie finished her drink off and set it on the bar. She quickly ducked back into the crowd and was followed for five minutes until she finally started to make her way to the women's bathroom. Master's stuck to her like white on rice, making the sixteen year old growl in frustration.

"Stop following me!" she grinded out. "We had a deal, you aren't supposed-"

A wave of dizziness passed through her and she leaned against a wall. Master's moved closed as his smirk grew.

"What did you do?" Allie asked blinking behind her glasses. "How?" Suddenly the noise was too loud for her and she covered her ears and leaned forward to fight the dizziness.

Master's grabbed her arms and guided her towards the bathroom, but stopped in front of a storage closet.

"No," Allie slurred out drowsily. She pushed at him weakly.

"It won't be bad," Master's whispered into her ear.

"I don't consent," Allie stated as he opened the door. "That's call rape."

Masters pushed her a little bit harder as she struggled against being put in the small quarters. He stopped when she connected the heel of her hand with his throat. As he choked on his tongue she kicked him in his special place and stumbled towards a back office. She pushed the door open only to lock it behind her once it was closed.

Meanwhile, Julie and Wendy had stopped dancing. They looked around for Allie. The juice bar server said that she was there for a few minutes, but had left with a brown haired guy in a hat.

The two girls found the guys in the board game room playing a small game of poker. "Where's Allie?" Wendy asked.

"She's not with you?" James asked. He looked around the tinted windows that lead to the dance floor and found cousin hobbling out of the hallway massaging his throat. Rage built up in him as he stood up and marched over to his cousin. He gave him a decent shove into the wall.

"What did you do to her?" he yelled over the music. "Where is Allegra?"

Masters tackled James to the ground and the two started to wrestle and throw punches. The music was cut off and two bouncers moved in. A minute later Lester and Bobby came in looking really confused. The bouncer outside had suddenly left his post and moved inside.

The two security buffs walked over to Julie and the rest of the slack jawed Wonderland Brigade. James never fought anybody. He was the calm rational being. "What's goin' on?" Bobby asked Julie.

"Allie's missing," Zook answered.

The cousins were pulled apart. "You tried something on Allie," James shouted. "Didn't you!" he spat.

"Where's the proof?" Masters countered.

"She hit you in the throat first and then a shot to the jewels. It's her trademark he mom told her it was the best way to get away!"

"With the amount of roofies in her, she shouldn't have been able to do that."

"What did you give her?" James yelled practically foaming at the mouth. His eyes popped out of his head for a moment. He pushed the bouncer holding him away and stalked down the dark hallway.

Julie ran after him in concern as the rest of the Brigade followed carefully behind. Bobby ordered a bouncer to call the cops.

"Allie!" Julie shouted hoping for some sort of response as James looked in rooms.

James stopped in front of a locked door and pounded against it. Lester walked over and pulled out his lock picks. "You didn't see this," he said. He pushed the door open a minute later.

Allie was seated on the ground. She leaned against the wall sleepily. She had started to cry so her pale cheeks had turned slightly pink and were tear stained. James moved in front of her. "Allegra?" he asked.

Allie opened her eyes and looked at him with unfocused eyes. "I tried to be safe," she sniffed. "I… and he… I'm so confused," she started to shake her head in an attempt to clear it of its fogginess.

James's jaw grew tights and he pulled Allie into a hug. She patted his side and buried her face in his chest, away from watching eyes. "I want to go home."

Bobby came in and kneeled down in front of the two teens. "Allegra, you need to go to the hospital for treatment, as well as some tests."

"But Will Scarlet, I want to go home," Allie said peeking out of James chest.

"He could have given you bad drugs," Bobby said. "I'll call your mom and she can meet you there."

"Can the Wonderland Brigade come?" she mumbled.

Bobby nodded. "You can stay with James too," he told her softly.

"Will Scarlet's a big softie," Allie murmured. "Just like Friar Tuck," she giggled.

Bobby looked at Lester's raised eye brow. "Roofies can have the same effects and signs of intoxication," he explained.

"Who's going to take Little Red Riding Hood? Allie can't drive," Mason asked.

Zook raised his hand. He had gotten his license the week previous. "I'll take Allie's car; I just need someone to give me directions."

Bobby tapped Allegra's shoulder gently. He smiled. "Friar Tuck and I are going to take you to the ER. James has to give everyone else a ride there. Is that okay?"

James hugged Allie tighter. Allie looked up and smiled. "The Mad Hatter has to get everyone to the tea party," she said.

"If this is what she's acting like while only under the influence for a short while," Lester began. "We are in for a really weird night."

Bobby shook his head. "She'll probably fall asleep soon. Roofies act as sedatives."

Lester looked at his partner. "How do you know this?"

"School. Sex Ed. One o' one. Don't leave your drink unattended," he answered. He looked back at Allie. "I'm going to pick you up."

Allie let go of James. "Is my mom going to be mad?" she asked.

"Most definitely," Lester said. "But not at you. It's that little prick who drugged you that will be in a world of hurt."

Allie looked at Lester as Bobby lifted her up easily. "So Peter Pan is going to be a boy forever?"

Lester let out a bark of laughter and the rest of the room smiled. "Yes Allegra, Peter Pan will be a boy forever."

"Too bad. If he got old everything would start to sag," Allie mumbled sleepily as she rested her head on Bobby's shoulder.

"You have a cruel and sick mind," Bobby told her, but he was smiling.

"Maid Marian taught me everything I know," Allie said.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well that was a long chapter, and I certainly hope you like it. I know it's mostly centered on the OC's but now we get to see the reactions of the parents. What will Stephanie do? Ranger? Oh this is going to be so much fun. I thought I would leave the chapter off a little bit lighter, so drunk Allegra was born…

Anyway, drop me a review telling me what you think. I want to know what you think about how the Masters Situation panned out. Soon he will be gone and I will move on to my next part.

Forum News: I put two new forums up. One for writers and the writing process and then the discussion thread for the first Alexandra Barnaby novel. Check them out if you get the chance.

I have a twitter. You need to send me a follow request; this is simply to prevent advertisers from following me. That's all. I'll accept your follow request.

That's all for now folks.

Ren/Shane


	16. Chapter 15

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Fifteen:

Stephanie dropped her large purse on the desk of the triage nurse. "My daughter Allegra was brought in by two men in all black. She was drugged at a club, and I need to see her now!"

Ranger and Cayden stood behind her. Cayden had a tight jaw, clenched fists, and tight shoulders, while Ranger was the picture of calm with his relaxed stance and blank face.

"Are you Stephanie Plum?" the nurse asked.

Stephanie started rummaging in her purse. "Yes, I have my ID right here," she pulled out her small card and held it in a shaky hand.

Zook came in with Julie and Mason. "I told you to go left at the light. Why would you keep going?" Mason asked.

"Mason, relax," Julie said. "We got here. Now we can see how Allegra is doing."

Ranger turned on his daughter. "Allie has a system huh?" he asked. "How did her water bottle get spiked with a roofie?" he crossed his arms and looked down at her.

"It wasn't the water bottle," the nurse spoke. "She admitted to buying a drink at the juice bar to avoid being rude to the server tending bar. If you follow me, we had to take Miss. McAllister to another room due to her photophobia."

The nurse buzzed open a door and led them down a pristine white hallway. "Normally, her friends wouldn't be allowed, but she started to throw a temper tantrum when we asked them to leave. We need to keep her calm, so a few friends is okay," the nurse explained. "The specific drug she was given was GHB. It had an unknown drug with it so we're watching her overnight. The roofie can last up to twenty-four hours, but at the halfway mark, the effects will start to diminish."

"Is she going to be okay?" Cayden asked trying to keep up with nurse's quick footsteps.

"She'll be fine physically, but most likely this entire day will disappear from her memory banks," the nurse said. She looked at Stephanie. "Did you bring any clothes for her?"

"Pajama's. Bobby said that she refused to wear a hospital gown," Stephanie said.

"Which one is he? Will Scarlet or Friar Tuck?" the nurse asked with a smile. "Your daughter has been talking to everyone through codenames. She named her doctor House."

"Is this because of the unknown drug you found?"

"We think it's a minor hallucinogen. Not a lot for a serious trip, but she is definitely feeling the effects," the nurse explained as she opened a door. "It's a common enough practice that we know how to deal with it."

Stephanie entered the room to find Allegra sitting on James's legs as she held him down on the mattress. Her hair just lightly tickled his cheeks, but his face was kind of shocked. Lester, Bobby, and the twins watched from a corner. Lester pushed himself off the wall and walked over to pick Allie up. She giggled and hung limply in his arms. "You're supposed to lying on the bed, not the Mad Hatter."

"But he's so soft and warm," Allegra defended.

James sat up and frowned. "Allie, you really need to relax," he looked at Stephanie. "Look, your mom is here."

Lester set Allie back on the bed gently. She looked at her mom and her expression grew sad. "I'm sorry," she said. "I should have stuck to the water."

Stephanie dropped her purse on a choir and walked over to the small teenager. "Are you okay?" she asked placing a hand on her daughter's shoulders.

Allie nodded. She shrugged away from her mother's grasp and smiled again as she crawled over to James. "Mom, he's soft and warm like Captain Kuma-chan."

Stephanie snorted at her daughter drug induced state and tried to hold back the tears the threatened to come. Someone had done this to her, reduced her actions to that of a small child. Cayden frowned. John Masters would pay even if it was just a legal punishment.

"Captain Kuma-chan?" Bobby asked.

"It's Allie's favorite stuffed bear," Cayden answered. "'Kuma' is the Japanese word for 'bear'. Ironically enough, it was a present from James on her sixth birthday. He's a stuffed panda."

James looked away as he blushed. Allie wrapped her arms around James and he wrapped an arm around her after a minute. "I didn't know what girls liked for toys," he said. "My dad told me a stuffed bear was the way to go if I wanted to make her smile. He took me to the store to pick it out and everything."

"That's so cute," the nurse sighed. "Miss. McAllister. Your mother brought you some clothes, so you don't have to stay in that very cute dress."

"Yay!" Allie cheered as she hugged James tighter.

Julie and Zook looked at each other. "Dude, she's as high as a kite!" Julie laughed.

"I'm going to come back with a stronger sedative to make her sleep," the nurse told Stephanie.

An hour later Stephanie stood in a corner of the room with Ranger. "She could have been raped," she whispered as tears brimmed up in her eyes.

Allie was resting peacefully in pajama shorts and a tank top. After pulling James from her grasp so that he could go home, Cayden had taken the boys place as Allie's personal human pillow. The father and daughter were huddled close together under the hospital blanket. Cayden's purpose was to chase away the nightmares from his daughters mind, and Allie was simply holding on for warmth and comfort.

"But she protected herself and acted before the drugs took their full effect," Ranger said. "Right now, John Masters is sitting in a Princeton jail cell."

"I want to kill that little bastard," Stephanie growled.

"Cayden wants to do the same thing. I take it, I'm behind him in line," Ranger sighed.

"He tried to rape my daughter!" Stephanie whispered harshly after Allegra moaned and buried her face in her father chest.

"Yeah, and from what Julie told me, James landed a few blows on his cousin. If you do anything to the Masters kid, you might lose the chance to see him put in jail," Ranger said. Attempted rape made his blood boil, especially since Allie was underage and Julie's best friend. But he couldn't go off halfcocked. Not when there was so much at stake.

"If he goes free, he better watch out."

Ranger pulled Stephanie into a comforting hug. "She's okay babe. She's in a safe place with her family. The people who care about her the most. Just relax," he told her.

Stephanie let out a deep sigh as she took a whiff of his Bulgari shower gel. He was right. Going after the Masters kid wouldn't help the situation. She kissed him just as Julie came in with a cup of coffee for Stephanie.

Julie looked at her dad and smirked. "You two could get a hotel room down the street," she said.

The two adults broke apart. "I've got to get her back to the apartment," Ranger told Stephanie.

"Go, I'm going to use the spare bed," Stephanie sighed. "I'll call you tomorrow."

Ranger nodded. Julie hugged Stephanie quickly before following her dad. As they walked to the Porsche Julie looked up at her father.

"Thank you. For letting me go tonight," she said. "Even if things went horribly wrong."

Ranger gave a gentle smile. "No parties for a while."

Julie looked up at the slightly cloudy sky. "I wish I could live here," she said.

"Why?" Ranger asked.

"Because," Julie said. "I have friends that actually care about what happens to the others."

The two got into car leaving each other to their own thoughts.

0o0o0o0

The next day Ranger walked into an interview room where a bruised John Masters sat. Ranger leaned over the table so that he was only an inch away. "You tried to hurt the daughter of somebody I care very much for," he whispered. "That girl also happens to be really close to my daughter."

He wasn't supposed to be there, but the detectives on the other side of the glass were pretending the former army ranger wasn't there. So long as he didn't get violent, they had no reason to interfere.

"Here's the deal," Ranger spoke calmly, each vowel dripping with venom. "You are going to write down everything you were even thinking about doing to Allegra McAllister last night. You will go to jail, serve your time, and when you get out, you will never speak to Allegra McAllister, her friend, family, even former teachers. Do you understand?"

John Master just stared at him dumbly, mouth hanging open slightly. Ranger pounded the table and the football start started to nod quickly. Ranger straightened up and left the room. The Princeton detectives backed away and watched the bounty hunter leave the building.

0o0o0o0

Allegra sat at the kitchen table poking at her waffle as she leaned on her hand. Cayden was keeping her home for two days to make sure that she was okay. Her memory of Saturday was completely erased, which made for an awkward situation when Wendy told her about her good night kiss with James. Nobody would give any details. They only admitted that there was a kiss of some sort.

She moaned and discarded her food in the trash. Stephanie came into the kitchen and looked at the now wasted waffle. "Allegra, you need to eat something. You didn't even eat dinner last night."

"I'm not hungry," Allie said. She looked at her phone as it sat on the table. "And why hasn't James texted me back?" she folded her arms on the table and dropped her head down.

"He's in school Allegra. Come on, we're going to mom and dads," Stephanie said grabbing her car keys.

Allie looked up. "Why?"

"Because, I'm pretty sure you can't deny your grandfathers supreme breakfast."

"But Gram always cooks."

"This is a special case," Stephanie said pulling Allie out of the chair and towards the door.

0o0o0o0

Julie opened the front door to her mother house. She held her school bag in one hand and her house key in the other.

Rachel Martine stood in the foyer. He hand rested on her hips and she had a stern frown. "You're late!" she stated.

"I'm sorry. I had to clear some stuff out of my locket," Julie said.

"It's a five minute walk from the school, you have ten minutes. You are twenty minutes late.

"There was a lot of stuff that I needed to clear out," Julie sighed. "It's something I needed to do."

"You're grounded," Rachel said.

"Mom!" Julie shouted. "It was just once." She dropped her backpack on the hard marble floor.

"And you'll never be late again," Rachel said crossing her arms. "Will you?"

Julie started for the stairs. "I hate this," she screamed. "I never get to do anything!"

"You're a child," Rachel shouted back.

"I'm fifteen years old," Julie said turning to face her mother on the stairs. "I should be able to do things like hang out after school, go to sleep overs, make some friends. You know what. Dad lets me do that in Trenton. I want to live with him. Not you. It sucks!"

Rachel started up the stairs. "Julie Martine, you will not be living with your biological father. I already permit you to see him without my being there. You should be grateful."

"Grateful?" Julie asked sarcastically. "You run my life as if I was some sort of criminal that needs to be monitored. I'm miserable here; in Trenton I have friends who take me out for pizza. We talk about movies and games. I can't do that here, because you're busy being the crazy obsessed mom. I hate it!"

Julie ran up the stairs and locked her door before falling on the bed as she started to cry.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well that was a lot of fun to write. I incorporated a lot of stuff into this chapter, but I think it works. I know everyone was looking for Steph and Ranger to beat Masters up, but in reality, it would cause a lot of problems. So, I wrote in the scene in the interview room.

Submit a review letting me know what you think. I know that you all have an opinion on this chapter. There was Allegra in her drug induced state, Ranger's talk with Masters, and Julie's fight with her mom. There's a lot to talk about. I want to hear from you guys. It's a lot of fun reading your reviews.

I have a twitter account for my fanfiction. I post little fun facts about all of my stories, but it appears that The Best Kept Secrets has all of the really cool facts. I also post links and updates on my work. So if you have a twitter, you should follow me. I'll even follow you.

Ren/Shane


	17. Chapter 16

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Sixteen:

Ranger sat in his office at Rangeman looking over some minor client's files. He looked at the clock to see that it was three o'clock. Stephanie was supposed to come in and do some check for him, but she had called an hour ago stating that she was taking Allegra to her parents for a 'supreme breakfast'. Why they would be having breakfast in the middle of the afternoon was beyond him, and defy the very principles of Burg lifestyle.

His cell phone rang and Rachel's phone number popped up on the display screen. He lot out an inaudible sigh and answered the phone.

"Yes Rachel," he spoke calmly.

"Are you happy?" Rachel's voice came through the line in clear concise vowel sounds.

"What?"

"'You've turned my daughter into a rebel!" Rachel exclaimed. "She came home twenty minutes late today."

"Why was she late," Ranger asked leaning back in his seat, debating whether or not to hang up on the woman.

"Don't play dumb Carlos," Rachel snorted. He pictured the woman pacing around her expensive kitchen with one hand on her hip as she spoke into the phone. "Julie seems to be under some illusion that she can live with you in Trenton. I guess you're the one that put that foolish idea in her head."

"Rachel, I've never said anything like that."

"Please," Rachel laughed. "And who are these friends? Drug addicts? Criminals? I suppose you just let her go running off to parts unknown."

Ranger felt his jaw tighten the slightest. "Rachel, you need to calm down. Julie made some friends while she's been spending time in Trenton. And they aren't criminals. They're merit scholars."

"Carlos, this was a bad idea," Rachel sighed. "She's too young to be traveling by herself. Maybe we can try this again in a couple years."

"No," Ranger spoke suddenly as he sat up in his seat. It was so sudden he actually surprised himself. "Rachel, Ron may have adopted Julie, but I will always be her dad. You can't take that away from me."

"Carlos, I'm not going to argue."

Ranger slipped into his business mode. "How about a trial period?" he asked. "Let Julie spend the rest of the school year in Trenton. If you don't see a significant change in her grades and in her attitude, the come June, she'll come back to Miami."

There was a pause on the line as he felt Rachel debating his offer. "I don't know."

"I will pay for her car the entire time she's here," Ranger added, as if it wasn't obvious.

0o0o0o0

Allegra sat in the Plum dining room. The warmth from the kitchen radiated out and made her feel sleepy and relaxed. The mixed smells of spice cake, fried eggs, and bacon filled her nose causing her to mentally drool. For a moment the sixteen year old felt like she was in heaven.

It was a rare and special occasion for Frank Plum to cook. It wasn't that he didn't know how to make a score of dishes; it was that Helen's meals were unrivaled.

Except when it came to Frank Plum's Supreme Breakfast. He was the master of fried eggs, a true Picasso with bacon, and his hash browns were cooked to perfection every time.

Allegra had the pleasure of his Supreme Breakfast only once before. She was ten years old and it was the day after Geoffrey Davis had put a worm in her roast beef sandwich. She had been so upset that Cayden called up Frank, hoping that a visit from 'granddaddy' would make her smile. Frank showed up and started to work on his masterpiece. It's funny how one could forget such a small but oddly grand gesture of affection.

Frank and Allegra had a relationship the preached tolerance in the form of silence. Together the two would sit at a window and watch as everyday people went about their everyday lives. Occasionally, one would comment about something to the other, who merely nodded and continued to hone their people watching skills.

It was an odd relationship, but it wasn't unlike that of Stephanie and Frank's. They just sat and watched the world go by. Stephanie would imagine the life of a superhero, while her father would watch as his daughter's eyes lit up in excitement over the newest and greatest adventure.

Frank came out of the kitchen with two plates of his breakfast and Helen followed him with two more. She would have preferred an afternoon snack, but Frank had been specially called upon to rid the teen of her lack of appetite. Stephanie came in from the front stoop and took a seat next to Allie. "Sorry, I had to call Vinnie to make sure there weren't any new skips."

Helen looked at Stephanie as she sat down. "Have you spoken to Joseph recently?"

"I've been a little busy mom," Stephanie sighed. "I have to go after skips and Ranger has me doing searches on the side to boot."

"Stephanie, you need to speak with him," Helen stated. "I'm sure he isn't angry anymore."

Frank grabbed his plate and nodded to Allegra who stood up. Helen watched as the two headed for the front porch.

"Frank, food is to be eaten at the table," she said as panic rose up. "Frank, what will the neighbors say?"

"We're just going to people watch," Allie said. "You and mom haven't been able to talk alone for a while. We'll just be outside. Don't worry, the neighbors already think I'm strange."

The two disappeared and Helen looked at Stephanie who let out an aggravated sigh. "Fine mom, I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"That's all I want," Helen said. "He's a good man, he was just hurt."

0o0o0o0

Later that night Stephanie answered her front door to find Ranger and James standing on the porch. Stephanie gave a big smile as she let them both in.

"Allegra is in her bedroom James," she said. "Duke is in there with her, so be careful not to excite him too much. We don't need him pinning Allegra to the ground."

Ranger and Stephanie watched as "James walked up the stairs and knock on Allie's door. There was a muffle bark as Allegra opened the door. She looked at the ground but moved to let him in before closing her door softly.

Stephanie smiled at Ranger. "What brings you to Princeton?"

"Julies coming to live with me for a bit," Ranger told her as they walked into the family room.

"Really?" Stephanie asked lighting up the entire room with her grin. "That's so cool. How long is she going to be staying?"

"June," he said as they took a seat in the love seat. "Possibly longer. It all depends on Julie."

"What do you mean?" Stephanie asked.

"If Julie's grades improve to a 'B' average, and she's provably happier, Rachel will let Julie make the choice to stay Trenton."

"That's great! The Wonderland Brigade will be so happy to hear that. Especially Allie," Stephanie said.

Ranger felt himself smile as Stephanie bounced happily in her seat.

"When does she move her?' Stephanie asked. "What school are you going to put her in? Maybe we can take her to the beach house this summer. Oh and a weekend with Braden and Clarissa would be nice. They could take the girls shopping in Tribeca. How about a trip Point Pleasant? She can go to the concert Allie and James are going to be in. Maybe-"

Ranger cut her off mid-sentence by placing a finger on her lips. "Easy babe,' he chuckled. "We have a lot of time."

Stephanie blushed. "Sorry, it's just nice to know that you'll be able to learn more about Julie, and Allegra and Julie are so close now," Stephanie sighed. "I'm so happy for you."

Ranger pulled Stephanie into an earth shattering kiss. Seeing her excited made him happy to his very core. With Julie, Stephanie, and Allie in his life, he was a happy man.

Stephanie happily returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. She had visions of she, Julie, Allie, and Ranger walked around Point Pleasant. Acting like a real family. A family of odd ball personalities, but a family nonetheless. She smiled as Ranger pulled her into his lap.

0o0o0o0

James looked around Allie's room. He smiled when he found Captain Kuma-chan sitting on her bed. Duke was lying on the floor chewing on a rib bone from dinner. Allegra sat down on her bed and grabbed the treasured stuffed bear. Her hair had be trimmed and layered. Her bottom layer had been died a pastel pink.

"You died you hair," James said.

Allegra reached up and messed with a few strands of pink. "I thought I would see how it would look. I like it," she said.

James sat down next to her on the bed. "It's cool. Totally you," he grinned. He gained a thoughtful stare as he gazed at the floor. "Are you okay?"

Allie looked at him. "James… I'm…" she stuttered as she tried to find the right this to say. "I'm so sorry for anything I may have done to you while I was under my drug induced state. I don't remember any of it."

James looked at her panic stricken face. "It's fine. It was a little weird, but it was okay."

"If I did anything to you that was completely uncalled for, I would understand if you didn't speak to me again," she said as she started to cry, struggling to remember something.

James brushed away some tears. "Allie, I told you everything is okay. You didn't do anything wrong."

"But Wendy said I kissed you, and then you wouldn't return my text messages," Allie said.

James pulled his phone out as he started to laugh. Allegra looked at him confused. He held his phone out so that she could see a picture. It was a simple photo of James and Allie. James had a look of pure shock on his face as Allie leaned over on her hands and knees, eyes closed as she kissed him on the cheek.

"It was a simple peck on the cheek Allegra," he told her. "Nothing more."

Allie buried her red face in her hands. "I must have looked absolutely ridiculous. James, I'm so sorry," she mumbled into her small hands.

James gently pulled her hands away and bent his head to look at her. "You get embarrassed so easily," he smiled. He continued to hold her hands in his.

"But I kissed you when you weren't expecting it."

James leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. It was her turn to play the fish out of water as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. His lips lingered on her cheek for a small moment before pulling away. "There, now we're even."

Allegra started to stutter as James pulled her into a sideways hug. "Only you could be so flustered by a peck on the cheek," he said as he laid his chin on top of her head.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well that was fun. Yay! Julie will be moving to Trenton. Actually this wasn't what I originally had planned. Allie was supposed to be there making sarcastic commentary as Rachel and Ranger duked it out. This somehow seemed more plausible and realistic. So I wrote it out this way. I think it's pretty good.

So drop a review letting me know what you think about the four parts in this chapter. Ranger's deal, Frank Plum's Supreme Breakfast, Stephanie's visions of a family, and James getting even… Well anyway, I shall leave you to review.

Ren/Shane


	18. Chapter 17

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Seventeen:

Stephanie was chasing after another naked man. Why did they always undress themselves? Did they think it was fun to be running around like that? What would their mothers say? She should have expected it really. Jackson Stewart was new to Trenton, but he wasn't new to the idea of exhibitionism. He had streaked his way across the United States. Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas, Tampa, and now Trenton were only a few stops on a very long list exhibition charges. Unfortunately, this time he decided to flash the mayor's wife.

Stewart turned to face her and ran backwards. Stephanie's lips curled back in disgust. He was far from a fine male specimen. For someone who was running backwards, he was kind of fast. Maybe he practiced in his free time. That, or Stephanie was getting lazy about trying to run daily.

"Run as fast as you can," Stewart chimed, "You can't catch me. I'm Exhibition Man!"

Lula popped up behind him in her usual get up of neon green spandex top and yellow skinny jeans that were four sizes too small. How she ever managed to fit into them made Stephanie shiver. Lula held a blanket in one hand and a stun gun in the other. Stephanie stopped running as Lula tagged Stewart in the neck with her stun gun.

Their skip crumpled to the ground in a heap of pale naked flesh and Lula began unfolding the blanket. "That was easy,' she grunted. "Usually it takes a couple blocks to catch the naked ones. We only went one block today."

"_You_ only went one block Lula, I ran four blocks," Stephanie heaved. "Let's get him to the station, and then I'm headed to the bakery, or Pino's."

"Huh, I guess we could do that," Lula said. "When's the mini you going to show back up in Trenton?"

Stephanie looked at her partner in crime. "Today. She's picking up Julie and Zook and they're all going to see a movie."

"Which one?" Lula asked as she dropped the blanket over Stewart.

"The werewolf one. From what I hear, the boys plan on crack jokes the entire time while Allie and Wendy argue on what a real werewolf is. Julie's tagging along to do both."

Stephanie and Lula picked up their skip and lugged him over to her Firebird. Lula secured the blanket with some cables and put a seatbelt on Stewart.

"It's been kind of quiet," Lula said. "Nobody has tried to kill you for a couple months. And you still have the Porsche. How are things going with Batman?"

Stephanie slid into the passenger seat as she thought about how nice it was to have a working car for more than a month. Stewart began to regain consciousness. "Good. We went to dinner last night."

"And Zook and Julie go to school together?" Lula asked.

"Yeah," Stephanie smiled. "I think he likes her."

"What makes you say that?" Lula asked.

"He likes to wait for her outside of school; he took time out of class to show her around the school. And he begins to fumble when Julie asks him a question."

"He better watch out," Lula snorted. "Ranger might not like that people are interested in his daughter."

"He can't stop it though," Stephanie said. "When you like someone, you like someone. It's just one of those things."

Lula pulled in front of the police station and helped Stephanie unload Stewart before finding an excuse to leave before more cops showed up to laugh.

Stephanie met Eddie Gazarra as she was rolling Stewart in.

"Do you need help?" he grinned.

"Not if you're going to ask me to babysit," Stephanie stated.

"I already asked Allegra," Eddie said having a triumphant smile plastered on his face made Stephanie mentally sigh. "She and Ranger's kid are going to watch my kids while Shirley and I have a nice night out."

"Congrats," Stephanie grunted as Stewart started to wiggle in his blanket. "Now are you going to help me or not?"

"Since I'm in such a good mood," Eddie slowly drew out the sentence. "Is he naked?"

"So sue me," Stephanie sighed as she sat down on Stewarts back. "I forgot his clothes at his place after he stripped down and made a run for it."

Eddie helped Stephanie roll Stewart into a holding cell and called someone to bring some clothes. Stephanie collected her bounty as Morelli strolled in. He looked at the struggling wrapped up Stewart, then Stephanie, and shook his head.

"Hello Joe," Stephanie greeted stiffly.

"Steph," he nodded by way of hello.

"How have you been?" Stephanie asked. She started to fidget with her hands.

"Good."

"Do you want to get some Pino's subs with me?" Stephanie asked, knowing that she couldn't avoid Morelli forever.

"I'll meet you there," Morelli said.

Allegra walked in and Stephanie looked at her confused. The teen was in jeans and a grey zip up hoodie. She had pulled her long hair up into a messy bun and her sunglasses were in place. She smiled when she saw her mom and waved.

"Allegra, shouldn't you be headed to the theater?" Stephanie asked.

"Well, I was stopped at the gas station to fill up and Lula was there. She asked if I could give you a ride to Vinnie's office so that you could pick up the Porsche. She said something about having to get the detailing done on her seats, which I'm assuming means that her allergy for cops flared up again."

Morelli turned to looked at the teen. Allegra tilted her head to the side and gave a slight finger wave. Morelli smiled slightly.

"Good afternoon Detective Morelli," she said.

"Allegra," he replied.

Stephanie mentally sighed. When he was angry he didn't say much at all, but somehow this felt different.

"I hope you're keeping the streets of Trenton clean of dirty rotten scoundrels," Allie grinned. "And I don't suppose _you_ could give my mother a ride to Vinnie's. I'm running late, but if a friend is here, then mom should be in good hands."

Eddie waved to Allegra before walking farther into the precinct.

"I'd be happy to give your mom a ride," Morelli said as he rocked back on the back of his heels, hands stuffed deep into his pockets.

Allegra grinned before turning around. She raised her hand up in the air and gave a wrist a quick flick as she disappeared through the door. "Ja Ne!"

Stephanie smiled and looked at Joe. "You don't have to give me a ride."

"I can't let you walk there," Morelli shrugged. "Besides my mother would smack m upside the head and I'm pretty sure Allegra would run me over with her bug."

Stephanie grinned. "That's a Mazur woman for you. Mom hit a rabbit, Val hit some thugs, Grandma hit you…" Stephanie stopped before she admitted her own hit and run.

A half hour later the two of them sat in Pino's with their meatball subs. Stephanie swallowed down a large bite and took a sip of beer. "I know I should have told you about Allegra," she admitted. "But you have to understand. After sixteen years, you don't want to let everyone know. Everyone is dying to meet 'Stephanie's Secret Daughter'," she waved her hands in the air. "and once they do, they bombard her with questions that she doesn't want to answer. 'Why is your hair white', 'Do Albino's blush?', 'Where's your father?'. It's overwhelming."

"That wouldn't have happened if you told everyone about her in the first place," Morelli told her as he leaned back in the seat.

"If I had, you would have had nothing to do with me," Stephanie stated simply. "Most guys would look the other way. I wasn't going to let what Magnusson did to me affect my dating life."

"Come on Steph give me some credit. You know I'm not the same guy I was in high school. Are you telling me that this entire time you didn't trust me enough to tell me about your daughter?"

"Joe, Allie made it very clear that she wanted nothing to do with you or Ranger," Stephanie said. "Now that you know about her, she's forced to deal with it. It's not because she doesn't like you either."

"Then what is it?"

"She's afraid of losing her dad," Stephanie said looking at the table. "If I get married again, she's going to have to make a really hard choice of who she wants to live with. At least that's how she sees it. It happened with Dickie. He manipulated her to think that she didn't need her father anymore because I was married to him. It really hurt her Joe."

"Dickie Orr is a dick. Cayden is her father," Joe said. "It's obvious that she really loves living with him, and it works too."

"It's an irrational fear now," Stephanie sighed. "Most of the time she was growing up, Cayden and I were all she had. Then she met her cousins and her friends."

Morelli gained a contemplative frown. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. It seems that you're only looking out for Allegra. Doing what's best for her."

"That's what mom's do," Stephanie said. "I should have told everyone when she was born, but fear pretty much ruled my life at eighteen."

"Are you with Ranger now?" Morelli asked.

Stephanie nodded.

"Are you happy?"

Stephanie stopped with the sub half way to her mouth. She looked at Joe and lowered the sandwich onto the plate. "Yeah, I am," she nodded.

"We're still friends right?"

"Of course," Stephanie smiled. "So long as you can accept my baggage. Allegra and everything else."

Morelli grinned back. "She's just like you."

"I certainly hope so," Stephanie laughed. "She'll lighten up around you if you spend more time around her."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well it was a short chapter, but it has a natural end to it so we're good. Right? Drop a review my way to let me know what you think about the chapter. It was kind of nice and it was fun to write.

Anyway, I had a small scare in my corner of the writing universe. I got a 75% on my music exam and the teacher stated that he was very disappointed in me in front of fifty of my peers. Why is this important? My aunt (whom I live with) said that I had to get an 85% or higher if I wanted to continue posting on this site. If I didn't I needed to take a little break. Two weeks tops. It would appear that breaking down and crying really puts things in my favor because she took pity on me, and is allowing me to continue writing. So long as I get in some studying in too. It would also appear that my teacher is extremely nitpicky, and my aunt knows that I know the material. So that worked in my favor as well.

Ren/Shane


	19. Chapter 18

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Eighteen:

Daniel Magnusson had spent sixteen years in Attica for raping three women, and he still had the other half of the sentence to carry out. He wasn't very tall. Five five if her stood straight. He had sickly pale skin, thick shaggy white hair that was in a permanent state of bed head, and maroon eyes. His cell had to be accommodating to his albinism, so the lights weren't very bright and any print material that he was given to read was in large print.

Growing up he was 'ghost boy' or 'freak show'. There were days where he came home crying to his parents. The school didn't stop the bullying. Some even believed that being pushed around helped to build character.

When Daniel entered high school things only got worse. Girls would look at his white hair and skin and kind of grimace, but he could handle that. After all, those were the kind of looks he had received his entire life. He knew he was different. It's when the light would hit his eyes just so that people would let out small screams of terror, which he would truly start to hate himself and the world.

Daniel was smart though. He excelled in math, science, and history. His eidetic memory was useful for such things. He had a future, a full ride scholarship to Columbia. He could have been something great.

Even with the smarts to talk to any girl he wanted, nobody would approach him. After being turned down five times in one night for being a freak, he decided that he needed to take matters into his own hands.

Sandy Jenkins, Elizabeth Sawyer, and Stephanie Plum had all been a part of his actions. He knew that rape was illegal and bad, but he was never going to lose his virginity by any normal circumstances. He had to do something. Getting a girl drunk hadn't worked, so he did what his mind had told him was the next best thing.

Stephanie Plum was a fortunate accident. Daniel had just finished hanging out with a buddy when he saw the cute brunette in shorts and a tight t-shirt. One more couldn't hurt. They hadn't caught him for the other two rapes. His body had been itching to be put into action once more.

He didn't count on her being able to remember his voice. He thought she was stupid. Then again, most people were stupid when compared to him.

When he found out she was pregnant with his child, Daniel felt complete. Seeing an Albino baby girl during the trial made him beam with pride. His daughter would understand him. She would understand why he did what he did.

It was time to put his new plan into action.

Daniel pulled out a folder from under his mattress and opened it.

A guard came to let him out for lunch. Daniel made his way to the prison cafeteria and sat down at Dwayne Rockets table.

Dwayne Rocket was the head of a Manhattan gang, and Daniel ran a numbers operation through him. Rocket was six and a half feet of lean hard dark muscle and pure rage. If you crossed him, chances were that you would be dead the next day.

"It's time to get out," Daniel told him.

Dwayne nodded and gave some of his cell block mates a simple brush of the brow, signaling the start of all hell breaking loose in the form of a Prison riot. Shanks and shives were pulled from clothing and the war had begun.

0o0o0o0

Stephanie stopped in front of Allegra's closed door. She paused for a moment before opening the door quietly.

The room was dimly lit and her stereo system was playing some symphony by Mozart. Allegra was passed out cold on her bed. Duke was lying sideways and had a front paw resting on the teen's hip. Allegra had a hand resting on the dog's neck.

Cayden came from his room and peeked into the bedroom. "They're best buddies," he laughed. He looked at Stephanie. "Did you get your man?"

Stephanie grinned as she moved out of the door jamb. "Of course."

"Good," Cayden stated. He closed Allegra's door. "She had four exams today. We should probably let her sleep."

Stephanie headed downstairs and turned on the news. They were covering a prison riot at Attica. Stephanie froze as fear started to set in. Cayden came in and looked at the screen somberly.

"**It is reported that the riot is under control, but according to the warden Jim Thompson several inmates were transferred to a local hospital for serious injuries after the prison hospital was set on fire."**

"That's not good," Cayden stated.

Hospital had less security, and most of the criminals at Attica probably saw picking the lock on handcuffs as child's play.

Stephanie moved over to a couch and sunk down into one of the cushions. Daniel Magnusson was at Attica. Had he been injured enough to warrant an outside visit to the hospital? Was he capable of escaping police custody?

The doorbell rang and Stephanie jumped. All the fear from sixteen years ago came creeping back. Cayden looked at his friend and fellow parent.

"Steph, Magnusson is sitting in his cell right now," he told her. "He can't hurt you anymore."

Cayden walked over to the door and found Joe and Ranger standing at the door.

Allegra opened her door and rubbed her eyes as Duke trotted out of the room. "Who's at the door?" she mumbled. "Izit James?" she slurred as she tried to wake up a bit more.

"Go back to sleep," Cayden told her. Worry was etched into his face. "It's just some of your mother's friends."

"M'kay," Allie sighed. She walked back into her room and Duke headed downstairs. He hopped onto Stephanie's couch to provide comfort once more. He gave a small _woof_ before dropping his head into her lap.

Ranger and Joe came in and looked at the news. Ranger turned off the TV and Joe stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Steph, can you take a vacation?" Joe asked. "Maybe take Allegra with you."

Stephanie swallowed back some air as she struggled to find her voice. "He got out?" she asked as she rested a shaking hand on Duke's head. "How? He won't come to New Jersey will he?"

"He orchestrated the entire riot it seems. He made his escape with a Manhattan gang leader," Ranger said. "You don't have to leave New Jersey, but Bobby and Lester will be assigned to Allie as body guards while Tank and I are with you. You don't have a say in this."

Stephanie looked at the ground as she began to see black dots dance across her vision. Cayden pushed Duke off the couch and made Stephanie put her head in between her legs.

Allegra came down the stairs in jeans and a t-shirt. She slipped on some shoes as she opened the front door. "I'm going to James's. I left my new violin strings at his place earlier," she said without looking at the adults.

"Actually I want you to stay inside tonight," Cayden said holding Stephanie down by the next.

Allie turned to look at Cayden, "Really?" she sighed. "I know its dark and all, but his house is two blocks away. I'll be ten minutes at most."

She stopped and looked at her mom. "Mom, are you okay?"

"She's not feeling well," Ranger said. "I'll drive you over to James?"

Allie started to feel uneasy and caved in. "That's not necessary. I'll just wait until tomorrow. Mom, drink some ginger ale. It might settle your stomach some," she said. She pulled her shoes off and kicked the front door closed. She looked at Ranger. "Hey I hear that Julie is doing well in her math class."

"She's doing great. Your past notes are helping out a lot."

"Good," Allegra yawned. "It's been a long day."

"Allie," Stephanie sighed sitting up. "I love you.

Allegra looked at her strangely before smiling. "I love you too," she chirped. She skipped over and hugged Stephanie around the neck. Stephanie hugged her daughter back and blinked away the tears.

0o0o0o0

Allegra got out of her car and looked at Bobby and Lester in the SUV parked alongside. "Hey I'll meet you in the pizza shop. Just find a parking place."

Bobby smiled. "I'll walk in with you."

"Are you actually going to let me know what the hell is going on?" she asked. "You don't need to walk me to the shop. It's only three doors down."

Bobby looked at the door and nodded. Lester drove the car around to a parking lot across the street and Allegra headed towards her favorite pizza shop. A man in a long trench coat and a large fedora moved in front of her. The fedora hid his face from view and Allegra backed up to try and see more of him.

"Spare change?" he asked holding out a hand.

Allie looked at the pale hand. "I'm sorry, I don't have any on me," she said.

The man looked up. "That's too bad," he said as he pulled out a Taser.

Allegra backed up as she looked into deep maroon eyes. Daniel tagged her in the neck and she crumpled into his arms. He picked her up and carried her over to a small green SUV. He dropped her into the back seat and bound her hands quickly. He hopped into the front seat as Lester and Bobby came running over with their guns drawn. Magnusson slammed on the gas and went whipping around the corner.

0o0o0o0

Stephanie was walking to her car when a Van pulled to a stop in front of her drive. Ranger and Tank were halfway down the block when Dwayne Rocket got out of the van and shot her with a tranquilizer gun. She fell back and he picked her up easily and dropped her in the van before Ranger and Tank could get close enough to stop him.

This was Magnusson's plan. Get the two people who he could have a family with. His plan was made for a quick grab and an efficient get away. Rockets would drop Stephanie off with Magnusson and the two would be on their own separate paths. Rockets would go back to his gang in Manhattan and run it from underground, and Magnusson would disappear with his family.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well we've reached the beginning of another plot arc. I hope you all stay tuned to see what happens in the next couple of chapters. I like writing the light stuff, but the dark stuff makes the fluff that much more enjoyable.

Drop a review my way letting me know what you thing about it. I hope you enjoyed it though.

Ren/Shane


	20. Chapter 19

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0o0

Chapter Nineteen:

Ranger s kept his tone even as he spoke. His jaw was tight, his fists were clenched, and his eyes were cold. "One of you should have been walking with Allegra," he said.

"She was parked three doors away," Bobby defended. "We were watching as she walked. We didn't know it was Magnusson."

"And now both Stephanie and her daughter are missing," Tank said. "Their purses were discarded on the side of the road, so we have no way of tracking them. If you had been doing your job correctly, Allegra would be safe and we would only have to worry about Bombshell."

Everyone stared at Tank. He didn't talk this much. Well, there was that one time when he was engaged to Lula and he opened up to Stephanie, but he only talked to her. Could it be that he was worried about the missing mother and daughter?

Julie and James stood in Ranger's doorway. The rest of the Wonderland Brigade was holed up in the seventh floor apartment. As a precaution they were being kept under strict ordered to stay in the apartment. The police could better do their job when they didn't have to worry about a group of nosy teenagers running around asking questions. The lead detective knew Ranger and had asked that he do something. So, as the majority of the Rangeman staff worked on trying to find Steph and her daughter, Cal and Ram were stationed outside the seventh floor apartment with Tasers and walkie talkies.

"Dad," Julie tried to get her father's attention, but he was too focused on ripping Bobby and Lester a new one to listen to her.

She had to tell him something. It was important, and he needed to know. The police ignored her as she tried to tell them, and now her own father was ignoring her.

"Dad!" she shouted.

Ranger looked at Julie and found that she was worried. "We're going to find them," he told her.

"You need to find Stephanie and Allie fast," Julie said. "It's really important that Allie get found now!"

Tank looked at Julie. "Do you know something we don't about Allegra?"

James looked at the four men in the conference room. "She's sick," he answered. "She should be at home resting. Allegra has a tendency to ignore the symptoms until she's too sick to get out of bed. She doesn't want to miss school so she keeps going until she's forced to rest. I've seen it before. There's only one person who can make her take it easy. It's her grandfather Braden."

"Stephanie didn't mention that Allie was sick," Ranger stated. Wouldn't Steph know if her daughter was sick?

"She's been hiding it," Julie said. James and she had talked about it while they were waiting for Allie to show up. "She's been sleeping during lunch and going to bed early. She had a concert next weeks and then she had all of those exams to take. She's just been working too hard."

"Cayden doesn't even know."

Lester crossed his arms. How had they missed an illness? "You can't hide being sick if it's really that bad."

"Did you know that Allie was sick?" Julie asked raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "She's been like this for a couple days, but it got worse today. We only know about it because James planted a kiss on her forehead. She has a fever."

Ranger looked at James. "Was it a bad one?"

"It was low, but Allegra's fevers rise up pretty fast," James said. He had grown up with her, he knew every trick in her bag and he knew how long she could keep a fever a secret. She passed out in the middle of class last year because she had gone to long without rest.

Ranger paced the small conference room. If Allegra did have a fever that meant that a virus had taken up residence in her body while her immune system was weak from exhaustion. She could need medication. He hoped that it was a cold and that Stephanie was with her. He could worry less if her mom was there to help bring the fever down.

0o0o0o0

Stephanie took a quick breath as she snapped up on the small mattress. She was handcuffed to the headboard. She pulled at the handcuff but it was secured tightly.

The room had faded yellow wallpaper. There were two beds, a bedside table in-between them, and TV propped up on a table on the other side of the room.

Stephanie's eyes widened when she saw Allegra passed out and restrained. Her arms had been tied behind her back and her ankles were taped together.

Stephanie jumped up, but fell back on to the mattress. "Allegra!" she yelped.

The door to the room opened and Magnusson walked in. Stephanie froze as she looked at him. She couldn't move as fear took over her body and coursed through her veins. Memories from that night seventeen years ago came flooding back into her head as she stared at the white haired man in front of her. Magnusson gave her a crooked smile as he moved over to Allegra. He pulled out a knife and Stephanie jerked out of her paralysis.

"Don't touch her!" she screamed.

Magnusson ran a finger down Allegra's flushed cheek. He stopped and moved his hand to her shoulder. "She's pretty," he said as he looked over his shoulder at Stephanie. "We have a beautiful daughter."

"Get your hands off of her," Stephanie ordered coldly as her eyes narrowed. She was in mama bear mode. She would chew her own arm off if it meant getting that monster's hands off of Allegra. She watched as Magnusson cut away Allie's restraints.

"I had to sedate her after she woke up in the van. She's quite loud," Magnusson explained. "She's feisty too. I suppose she gets that from me. You didn't fight much all those years ago."

He turned Allegra on her back and studied the sixteen year olds body. "Her breasts are as big as yours," he smiled.

He moved to touch the teens long white hair but pulled his hand back when Allegra let out a soft moan. "Allegra, open your eyes for your father."

Stephanie yanked at the handcuff furiously. "You're not going to get away with this," she said glaring at his back. "If you hurt-"

Magnusson's eyes locked onto Stephanie. She backed up as the light turned the maroon orbs to a red. "Why I would never hurt my child. I'm not a monster."

"I disagree," Stephanie stated. "Lay one more hand on _**my**_ daughter and you will regret it," she growled.

Magnusson moved over and grabbed Stephanie harshly by the chin. He moved the flat end of his knife against her cheek. "We're a family now and we will be for a long time. Learn to hold your tongue or I will cut it out of that pretty little mouth of yours."

Magnusson let go of her and Stephanie watched helplessly as he handcuffed Allie's wrist to the headboard. "I'll bring dinner for the two of you later," he said as he left the room.

Stephanie tried to hold back her tears but she started to cry a minute after the door had been locked. She wanted Ranger to come sweeping in to save the day, just like he always did when she was in trouble. She wanted to wrap Allegra in her arms and never let go. She wanted to get out of this prison and take a deep breath of fresh air. She looked out the single window at the trees and wood like setting. She was reminded of the Pine Barrens.

Allegra woke up ten minutes later and pulled at her handcuff. She looked at her mom. "You said he was in jail!" she shrieked.

Stephanie looked at her daughter sadly. Cayden and Stephanie hadn't told Allegra that Magnusson had broken out of jail. "He broke out a few days ago," she whispered.

Allegra stopped struggling against the metal cuff and started at her mother's depressed posture. Stephanie's shoulders sagged. She was slouched over slightly and her head was bent in shame. "Mom," she said confidently. "I'm not going to let him hurt you again."

Stephanie wiped her eyes and looked at Allie. "Why are you cheeks flushed?" she asked trying to rid her brain of thoughts of Magnusson.

Allegra turned away slightly. "It's nothing," she said. She swallowed back a cough and cleared her throat.

"You're sick again," Stephanie said. She started to feel a bit angry. "You've been working too hard again." She let out an angry sigh as she leaned against the headboard. "Allegra, you've got to stop doing this. Your body isn't built to work until you pass out."

"I'm fine."

"Then tell me you don't have a fever," Stephanie yelled. "Tell me to my face."

Allegra looked at the pattern on the quilt below her. Magnusson came in a minute later with two trays of food. He set them on the bedside table as both women moved to the corners of their beds.

Magnusson smiled at Allegra. "I'm glad you're awake. We have some father daughter bonding to do."

Allegra glared at the man that had ruined her mother's life. "You're not my father," she growled imitating her mother's deep hatred for the man in front of her. "You're a rat bastard that deserves to rot in the fiery pits of hell!"

Magnusson reached out and backhanded Allegra across the face. Allie's glare grew colder and she spit in his face. There were small traces of blood from a split lip.

Magnusson wiped the spit away with a flick of his hand. "I'm your father, not that fag," he said calmly. "I'll make sure he doesn't interfere with our family."

Magnusson left the room and Allegra's brave front crumbled when she realized that Cayden might be in danger. She looked at her mom as she started to cry. "Mom, I'm scared," she said before she started to sob. "I want to go home."

Stephanie picked up the metal fork from her tray and tried to bend on of the prongs so that she could pick the lock. She had to get out of this place with Allegra. "I know honey," she said. "We're going to get out."

0o0o0o0

Cayden was furious. He was pissed that his daughter was missing, angry that his best friend had been abducted by her rapist, and disappointed in himself. He felt this way because he hadn't taken the steps to protect either of them.

He tried to be calm, rational, and focused. Just like his father had taught him many years ago. He tried to place his trust in the police and in Rangeman. He tried to believe that Stephanie wasn't begging for help. He tried to sit at his house waiting.

But he couldn't sit there. So, he changed into some light grey sweatpants and a white sweater. He laced up his running shoes, and started on a late night run.

As he was running he neglected to notice the black car that followed him, stalking him as he blew off some steam. In the driver's seat a pair of maroon eyes watched closely.

As he slowed down to a brisk walk the dark car came closer. Cayden walked across the streets and the car lurched forward and collided with the English professor.

Cayden was launched to the side. His head smacked against the pavement as the car sped off. He heard yelling and the screeching of tires as his world blacked out. He heard Bobby calling for an ambulance before he let go of his senses.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well that's one way to end a chapter. I hope you stay tuned for the next chapter. It's going to have some interesting things in it. What's going to happen to Allegra and Stephanie? Will Ranger find them before either of them are hurt? How did Magnusson get a house and a couple of cars? What about Cayden? Is he going to be okay? There are so many things to answer.

Warning: All of my email alerts are on an extremely long delay, so if I don't replay to reviews it mean that I don't know they are there.

Drop me a review letting me know what you think. I know that this chapter is darker than I usually write, but I think I did okay on this. So let me know.

Ren/Shane


	21. Chapter 20

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty:

Allegra dropped her head against the headboard. She slid her gaze over to her determined mother. "Where do you think he went?" she asked.

Stephanie and dropped her bent fork onto the plate. Magnusson had been gone the entire night and it was morning now. A fog had fallen on the ground and it made outside look eerie and lonesome. She stared at the fork. Apparently a single prong was still too big to pick the handcuff.

"I don't really care. So long as he's gone. Is it possible to squeeze your hand out of the cuff?"

Allie looked at her mom in confusion. "I don't know," she answered. She pulled her until the metal was digging into her bone. She stopped and bit the inside of her cheek in thought. "Let me try something."

Before she made another attempt to free her wrist from the restraint, the door opened and Magnusson came in.

Stephanie narrowed her gaze at the albino man in front of her. "You need to let us go. Allegra is sick, and I need to get her to a doctor," she stated.

"She'll be fine," Daniel said glancing briefly at Allie.

Allie rolled her eyes and sighed. "I have a question."

Magnusson turned all of his attention to Allegra and smiled. "Yes princess."

Allegra swallowed back a gag. "First of all, I'm not your princess. I'm nobody's princess. I can handle things on my own and I don't need some stupid man to come help me. Second, you've been in jail for sixteen years," Allie began, "How did you end up with a house on the edge of the Pine Barrens?"

Magnusson sat on Allie's bed and she scooted farther into her own corner, never taking her violet eyes off of him. "I wasn't cut off from the outside world Allegra," he smirked. "Illegal gambling is a big business these days. I developed some… contacts outside of prison, and they set this entire place up."

Allie didn't look impressed. She had started to sweat and her eyes were half slits. "Can you leave now?" she asked.

"I came to tell you that I just killed your 'father'," he told Allie using finger quotes.

Allegra's eyes popped out of their sockets as she jumped up. "What!" she shrieked. "What did you do to my dad!"

Stephanie stared at Magnusson's back in shock and disbelief. _Cayden's dead?_ She thought.

Allegra's mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour as she plotted the death of Daniel Magnusson. She grabbed her pillow and threw it at him. "What did you do to him!"

Magnusson stared at the teenager before him. He moved the pillow back to its original position. Allegra's eyes welled up with tears, but she bit her lip and blinked them away. "He was in the way of my car."

Stephanie gasped and watched the already pale Allegra turn almost pure white. Her daughter's shoulders sunk as she slumped against the wall and looked at her knees.

Magnusson placed a hand under Allie's chin and lifted it up. "It needed to be done," he said. He stood up after running his thumb over her cheek.

Stephanie couldn't move as Allegra wiped her eyes with her hand. "I need to get out of here," Allie said. She looked at her handcuffed wrist with a new determined gleam in her eyes. "I just have to make my hand smaller than my wrist. Right mom?" she looked over to meet Stephanie's stunned face.

"Don't break your hand," Stephanie said. "That's your bow hand."

Allie smiled slightly. "I won't. I promise," she reassured.

Allie over lapped her thumb and pinky while keeping her remaining fingers straight. She slowly started to slip the hand cuff of her wrist as Stephanie watched anxiously.

0o0o0o0

Ranger stood in a New York Port Warehouse talking on a cell phone. Tank had Dwayne Rocket up against a cement wall.

"Is Cayden okay?" he asked Lester who was at the hospital with Bobby.

The two were set to follow Cayden from a distance and had seen him get hit by Magnusson's car. Unfortunately the albino escape had dumped his car in the middle of Princeton.

"His head hit the pavement pretty hard, but the doctor said it was just a concussion and a cracked skull. His left leg is broken."

"So he's going to be okay?"

"He should make a full recovery," Lester answered. "Have you found out where Bombshell and her mini me are?" There was worry in his voice. He had messed up and knew it.

"We're working on it," Ranger grunted as he glared at the fear stricken gang leader.

He hung up and walked over to Rocket. "Is he talking?" he asked.

"No," Tank answered.

Ranger's jaw twitched. He needed to have Stephanie in his arms once more. Allegra had to be okay or Julie would hate him. Truth is told the albino teen had grown on him. When she was being sarcastic, threatening, or witty, she had an endearing charm about her, much like her mother.

"Listen, if you don't tell me where Daniel Magnusson tool Stephanie Plum and Allegra McAllister, then the police will find out about your under the table gun running operation with Trenton's gangs. Tell me where he took them, and they won't find out about it," he explained. "From me," he added for good measure.

"I don't know all the details, but he mentions a place in the Pine Barrens while we were locked up," Rocket answered. "I won't go near that place. It has the Jersey Devil in it. He needed one of my boys to get him some stuff. Some beds and other shit."

Ranger left the warehouse and called "Morelli. "Rocket said that Magnusson has a place somewhere in the Pine Barrens. Give me a few minutes to get out, and then the FBI can move in on the warehouse."

"The Pine Barrens is a big place," Morelli said. "A lot of ground to cover, but it's a wildlife preserve so we can limit it to the edges. Are you going to go looking?"

"We're going to need the police's help."

"Got it," Morelli answered. "I'll get state police in o the search. A couple of Trenton cops want to help, so we'll be there too."

"Everyone puts out the stops to help Stephanie," Ranger sighed.

"How's Allie's dad?" Morelli asked.

"He should make a full recovery," Ranger answered. He slipped into the passenger seat of one of his Rangeman SUV's.

0o0o0o0

Allegra had managed to free herself and had moved across the locked room to an old window. It took her a moment, but she finally slid it open and took a breath of the fresh air. She walked over to her mother and watched as she struggled to release herself. "How did you do it?" Stephanie asked.

Allie examined her mother's wrist closely. "Yours is too tight," she said. She sat on the bed and looked at the ground. "There goes that plan."

"No," Stephanie stated. "You're sick. You need to get out of here. Find a way out of the woods and to a main road. You can find someone who can help you."

Allegra looked at her mom. "I'm not leaving you here alone with him. He'll hurt you."

"Allegra Christine McAllister," Stephanie growled as she swallowed her fears. "Get out of this place and find help."

"What if I can't find someone fast enough?" she asked the one question that had entered her mother's head a moment ago.

"I'll be fine," Stephanie smiled. "I've been working out with the Merry Men."

Allegra bit her lip unsure, but she stood up anyway. She hugged her mother tightly. "Please be okay until I come back with help. I can't lose you too," she whispered.

Stephanie squeezed her back. "Be careful. I hear the Jersey Devil roams these parts," she lightly joked.

Allegra took a deep breath and walked back over to the window. She used the wall to gain leverage and slowly lifted herself through the meager opening. She somersaulted onto the ground below her and took in her surroundings.

It appeared that the house they had been in was an old cabin situated in a clearing surrounded by tress. To her left the trees looked woodsy and friendly and the trees on the right reminded her of the Forbidden Forest in Harry Potter.

She stood up just as Magnusson entered Stephanie's room. Her eyes widened as he let out a scream of outrage. She sprinted into the scarier part of the forest never looking behind her.

Meanwhile, Stephanie decided to confront her one demon. She grabbed her plate of food and threw it at him.

The plate hit him in the back and food and plate fragments fell to the ground. He growled and moved towards her. She kicked a foot out strategically and landed a blow to his jewels. He dropped to the floor and started to cough. Stephanie landed another kick to the head making him fall on his side.

"If I can't get away, I will fight you," Stephanie told him as he curled up into a ball. "You put your hands on my daughter and that's unforgivable."

A minute later Magnusson pushed himself up and out of Stephanie's way. He started to laugh wickedly. "You're going to fight me?" he asked as he continued to laugh. "You don't know how rough I can be."

Stephanie glared at him. Apparently he'd never seen a mother bear protecting her cubs.

0o0

Allegra stopped running and let out several deep wheezes. Her lungs were burning as she coughed. She placed her hand against a tree and bent over. Before she could get her breath under control a branch cracked behind her and she took off once more, moving deeper into the forest. Her foot caught on a tree root and she stumbled down a hill losing her glasses as she landed in a pile of dead leaves. She moaned and tried to sit up, but her body was too tired. She could actually keep her eyes open in the dim forest lighting, but she felt her lids grow heavy and she closed the slowly as something moved into the small clearing.

0o0

Ranger pulled to a sudden stop in front of a ramshackle cabin. He and Tank got out of their SUV as Morelli and a couple more cop cars pulled to a stop.

Ranger and Morelli were the first people to enter the small cabin. They made a quiet entry and moved towards the back of the cabin. They heard Stephanie's yelling and a struggle behind a door and Morelli pushed the door open as he kept his gun level with his eyes.

The two men found Magnusson on top of Stephanie as she kicked and screamed. She was still hand cuffed to the bed, but managed to punch Magnusson in the face. Morelli rushed forward and pulled the albino man off the mattress. He looked around. There were only two bedrooms in this place and the other one was empty. Where was Allegra?

As Ranger uncuffed Stephanie, Joe rammed the rapist against the closest wall harshly. "Where is she?" he asked in a deep growl. When Magnusson didn't answer and started to laugh he pushed Daniel's face harder into the wall. "Where is Allegra McAllister?"

"She's in the Pine Barrens," Magnusson said "She somehow got out of her cuff and went running into the darkest part of the forest," he laughed even harder. "The Jersey Devil probably has her now. You're not going to find her."

Carl Costanza came in and took Magnusson away from Morelli.

"Watch me," Morelli said. He smirked. "By the way, Cayden McAllister is alive and expected to make a complete recovery."

Magnusson roared in anger as Carl pushed him out of the room. Tank and Eddie came in and stood at the edge of the room.

Stephanie looked at Joe and then at Ranger. "She's sick," she said. "But I made her run."

Ranger hugged Stephanie close as her pulled her into his lap. "We know," he said taking in a whiff of her hair. "James and Julie told us. They found out yesterday."

"I have to go find her," Stephanie said trying to stand up. Ranger pulled her back gently.

Morelli smiled sadly. "You should get your injuries looked at."

"I'm not leaving this place until Allegra is found," Stephanie stated stubbornly.

She felt Ranger chuckle slightly behind her. "No one expected you too Babe."

Stephanie looked at Ranger. "She's going to be okay." She said. "Right?"

Ranger nodded.

"She'll be fine and in your arms again," Morelli told her. "She's probably looking for help right now, but we'll send some people into the forest to find her."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well there you go. One chapter to find Stephanie and another chapter to find Allie comes next. Well it will be faster than that. I think we have to have some fun Hospital scenes again. Sorry I didn't update fast enough. I had to find the right way to write this chapter and it became difficult. Actually I used my general abduction outline… if you read one of my first fics you'd know that this is vaguely reminiscent of a past abduction arc. Anyway, I hope you liked it.

Drop a review. I changed my fanfic email to something a little faster so I should get all of your reviews in a timely manner. I also have an iPhone now, so it's most definitely going to be immediate… Let me know what you think.

Ren/Shane


	22. Chapter 21

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

_**Important Notes at the end of the Chapter. Please Read.**_

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty-One:

Morelli pushed some branches out of his way as he wandered through the Pine Barrens. He held a walkie talkie in one hand and used his open hand to clear a path. He'd been searching for Allegra for an hour and he was starting to wonder if he ever would find her. There were fifty people in this part of the Pine Barrens along searching for the missing Allegra McAllister.

Morelli stopped moving when Stephanie's voice came through the small communication device.

"Has anyone found her?" she asked.

Ranger and Stephanie were back in the clearing. They couldn't have Stephanie frantically searching the forest in her tired and beaten state. Ranger had stayed behind to force the mother to relax while members of Trenton Police and employees of Rangeman searched the forest. It seemed that the Cuban-American was the only one who could stop her from going completely nuts while her daughter was missing.

"Not yet," Morelli said. "But we will. Don't worry."

He stopped moving when he heard voices close by. He walked towards them, and as he pushed away a group of leaves and limbs he had to stop. The sight before him wasn't like any other forest scene he had seen before… He looked at the picture before him in sheer disbelief. Was this really happening?

Mooner and Dougie were in full Hobbit gear. They held fake wooden staffs as they stood guard around an unconscious Allegra. She was propped against the trunk of a large tree and had been covered by an old tattered jacket.

Morelli let out a sigh of relief and tried to move forward, but Mooner and Dougie moved their staffs to black his way.

"No mortal man may pass us. We have sworn to protect the immortal elf," Mooner said.

"We are under strict orders from Elmer the Fire God not to let anyone touch her while he seeks help from the all-knowing ones," Dougie explained.

"I don't have time for your drug induced fantasy," Morelli stated. "Allegra is sick and needs medical attention."

"We're not on drugs man," Mooner stated getting a little offended. "We're like… totally clean. Elmer said that the elf needed to be protected from the Monsters of the forest."

Morelli blinked. "Yes, well I'm one of the all-knowing ones when it comes to the law, so move," he said as he pushed the staffs out of the way. He crouched down in front of Allegra and placed a hand on her flushed cheek.

"Allie, you need to wake up."

Allie moaned and her eyes slowly opened. She swatted at Morelli's hand weakly. "Stop," she mumbled. "Please just let me and my mom go."

"Easy," Morelli spoke softly trying to calm her mind down just a bit. "You're okay."

Mooner and Dougie moved over to another tree and began to quietly pout, but watched Morelli interact with the teenager.

Once she was able to focus the slightest bit on Morelli, Allegra's eyes widened in panic and she tried to jump up. "You have to help my mom!" she cried out.

Joe pushed Allie down gently and kept his hands on her shoulders. "Steph's fine," he said. "She's really worried about you."

Allie felt a wave of dizziness pass through her and she leaned into Morelli's chest. She grabbed onto his long sleeves and started to mumble. "Did he hurt her?" she whispered.

"No, she's okay," Morelli told her. "She fought him tooth in nail so there's a couple bruises, but that's all. We've got to get you to a hospital to make sure that there's nothing seriously wrong with you," he explained as he hugged her. She started to shake in his arms and his grip grew tighter around the petite teen.

"He killed my dad," she sniffed.

"No he didn't. Cayden is at the hospital. He has a bad bump on the head and a broken leg, but he's going to be okay," Morelli said. He pulled his walkie out and spoke into it. "I've got Allegra."

"Is she okay?" Stephanie responded quickly.

Morelli laughed. "She more concerned about you and her dad than she is about her fever."

"So she's not an elf?" Mooner asked.

Morelli shook his head. "Then why were we told to protect her?" Dougie questioned.

"There are strange things in the woods. Dangerous too," Morelli stated. "You were asked to watch her while 'Elmer the Fire God' got help."

"Can I see my dad?" Allie asked.

"Yeah, can you walk?"

Allie shook her head. "I'm so sleepy," she yawned. "I think I hurt my wrist."

"All right, can you at least hold on if I put you on my back?"

Allie nodded. "I can do that."

0o0o0o0

Stephanie was lying sideway in Allegra's hospital bed. The teenaged was passed out cold and hooked up to an IV. Test would take time, but it was likely that the sixteen year old had a case of the flu. She was dehydrated and had a sprained wrist, but doctors weren't too worried about her.

Stephanie pushed Allie's bangs out of the way and glanced at the other bed in the room. Cayden was hooked up to a heart monitor. His parents were seated nervously against the wall as they watched their son and granddaughter sleep peacefully.

Ranger came into the room and leaned against the doorjamb. "Stephanie, you need to eat something."

"I'm okay," Stephanie said creating a pillow out of her arm.

Ranger walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "If you keep this up, they'll have to admit you to the hospital for exhaustion and starvation. Take a break so that we can get some food in you," he explained.

Braden McAllister stood up from his seat in the corner of the room and walked over. His thick hair had only just begun to turn white in small streaks. It was still a dark shade of shaggy grey. His face wrinkled slightly as he gave Stephanie his trademarked doctor's grin.

"She's not going to disappear on you Stephanie," Braden said. "We've got a fleet of people in the waiting room who want to see that you, Cayden, and Allegra are okay. Why don' you send James in. I'm sure he's worried about Allie. Plus he can take the place of human pillow in your absence." Braden sighed. "Doctor's orders, leave this room for a bit. Get some food, and report to the rest of your family."

Ranger gently lifted Stephanie out of the bed. He was careful not to wake Allegra. "You heard the man."

Stephanie looked at her sleeping daughter as she leaned into Ranger's chest. Allie turned on her side and let out a soft sigh. Stephanie looked at Allie's wrapped up wrist. It would limit her ability to play the piano and violin, but it wouldn't stop her from trying. She would just play the less complicated songs.

Clarissa stood up. She was casual woman in her jeans and cotton zip up jacket. Her long grey hair had been pinned up into a bun and she smiled at the younger adults. "I'm going to talk to Mike, Leo, and Vanessa. They'll want to know what's going on with Cayden and Allegra."

"Who?" Ranger asked.

"Mike is the twin's father, he teaches Italian at Princeton," Stephanie explained. "Leo is Allegra's favorite Uncle. He works at the FBI in Manhattan, and Vanessa is Cayden's only sister. She's with Doctors without Borders. She's been on a small break for a couple weeks."

Ranger looked at Cayden's parents. "You have an impressive family," he complimented.

Braden wrapped and arm around Clarissa's waist. "Only because we raised our children to work hard and pursue their dreams," Clarissa smiled. "My family is from a small town in Indiana. We had to work for the things we wanted and I wanted our children to learn that hard work will get you farther than money."

"But it helps," Braden laughed. "I'm so glad you worked to get into Harvard. Otherwise, I never would have met you."

Stephanie smiled. She loved seeing the love in Braden and Clarissa's eyes as she stared at each other. She wondered if that ever happened when she talked to Ranger.

Clarissa grinned. "I'm going to talk to the kids."

Braden moved his chair in between the beds and leaned back in his seat tiredly. He'd been here since he got a call from Mike about Cayden. It wasn't until he and Clarissa had arrived at the hospital that they found out that Stephanie and Allegra were missing. The two of them were staying in a hotel down the street, but most of their time was spent sitting in the chairs by their son's bed, waiting, and hoping that everyone would be okay.

A couple minutes later there was a knock on the open door and Braden looked up to find James standing tentatively at the door. Braden rubbed his face and smiled. "Come in James."

James was holding Allie's favorite blanket. It was a wool blend with a design of a tree in the shape of a moon. The tree had a carved out face that looked at a shimmering lake.

"I bought that blanket for Allegra when she was a toddler," Braden smiled. "Growing up, you and she would use it for naptime.

James nodded as he remembered preschool and weekend play dates with his best friend and girlfriend. "I stopped by Allie's to get it. She sleeps better when she has it. There was this one time when we were at band camp in elementary school. She forgot to pack her blanket and ended up having a nightmare," he explained.

"You're a good man James," Braden said.

"I'm not that special," James stated. He started unfolding the blanket as he moved over to Allie's bed. He draped it over her gently and brushed some hair out of the way.

"Not many people would pick up their girlfriends biggest comfort item."

James sat on the edge of Allie's bed and looked at her grandfather. "It wasn't a big deal. She's important to me."

Braden grinned knowingly. James was like him. "How long have you been dating now?"

James blushed. "Two months," he said.

"Cayden told me that you took her on a date, but I wasn't sure if you were officially dating her."

Allegra opened her eyes and yawned. She turned and looked at Braden. "Grandpa?" she asked.

"Allie Cat," Braden said. "How are you?"

Allie pushed herself up and bumped into James. She looked at him and blushed. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," James said

"Allie Cat, you shouldn't be trying to move so much," Braden stated.

"I can't talk to you lying down," Allegra mumbled. She looked over at her dad's bed. "Is he okay?"

Braden nodded. "He'll be fine," he said.

James reached out and pulled Allie backwards into a hug. "You should be resting," he whispered in her ear. His arms were wrapped loosely around her neck.

Allie buried her face in his warm arms and took a deep breath. "I'm fine," she said. "I'm tired, but I'm okay."

"You should go back to sleep if you're tired," Braden stated.

Allie peeked up at her grandfather. "Can James stay?"

Braden chuckled. "Yes, he can stay, but you have to go back to sleep. No kissing or talking quietly. You're mother had gone to get some food, but I expect she'll be back soon. She went with that man she's with."

"His name is Carlos Manoso, but everyone calls him Ranger," Allie said as she scooted under her blanket. She lightly grabbed onto James's shirt sleeve before closing her eyes.

James lay down next to her and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders before looked at Braden.

"Hurt her, and I'll kill you."

James smiled. "Yes, Dr. McAllister."

Braden leaned back in his seat once more and looked at his son as he started to move. Cayden's eyes fluttered open a few minutes later. He groaned quietly. "Allegra," he spoke.

Braden stood up and took his son's hand. "She's right here," he said. "She's just resting."

Cayden turned his head and winced, but his pained features softened when he saw Allie's turned to him. She smiled. "She's safe?"

"A fever and a sprained wrist," Braden explained. "Are you hungry?"

"Did Magnusson hurt Stephanie?" Cayden asked.

"A few scratches and bruises. She fought back," Braden said.

Cayden sighed and looked at the dotted ceiling. "Thank God."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: So we've come to the end of another chapter. The next one is where hospital hilarity may or may not occur. I guess it depends on what tickles your funny bone. I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I like it, but I think that something could have made it just that slightest bit better.

Leave your opinion on the chapter in a small review. What did you think? I got a lot of reviews from the last chapter and unfortunately I grew lazy in my attempt to respond to you all. Alas, this will not happen again. I do apologize.

**Important Note 1:** The Best Kept Secrets has officially become the longest story (Chapter Wise) to date that I have written. It also has received the most reviews that any story I have ever written has received. To date The Best Kept Secrets has received 352 reviews. Combined all my other stories have come a whopping total of 264. This is good news for me because I LOVE reviews. They're like crack. Especially the ones where people comment on parts of the chapter that they liked the most. I really love responding to you all as well.

Honestly, I've told some of my readers, that right now, I don't see where this story will end. I have a couple more plans to throw in to bring Ranger and Stephanie closer as a couple as well as my usual cute chapters of fluffy goodness.

**Important Note 2:** A fellow fanfic author in one of my favorite fandoms was just forced to defend herself against someone who didn't like that there wasn't an update on one of her stories for quite some time. I feel like this is a little unfair because she, like me, is juggling multiple stories at once.

I have two fanfiction accounts and currently have seven active and In Progress stories. I also plan to add four more to that list, and I participate in a fanfic monthly writing challenge. One will be a Janet Evanovich story. However, it will only be a couple chapters long. I'll be starting another Criminal Minds fic and have two more stories to start on my other account.

I'm mentioning all of this because there are a couple stories that I haven't updated in a while. I want my readers to know that I will never abandon a story. I want you all to know that I'm working hard to update all of my stories, but at times real life, and on occasion, writer's block, set it. There isn't anything I can do about this, but I thought that I would post this at the end of my chapters for a couple weeks.

Ja Ne.

Shane/Ren


	23. Chapter 22

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty-Two:

_Stephanie was walking along side Cayden in a jean skirt and a grey tank top. She wore a simple pair of sunglasses to block the blazing summer sun as the ocean breeze whipped her already uncontrollable hair around. _

"_It doesn't make you nervous that Leo is going to be carrying a gun soon does it?" Cayden asked as they kept their leisurely pace. _

_They were walking on a beach in the Hamptons. The two of them sat down on the sand and both buried their feet in the warm grains. They watched as a six-year-old Allegra was being chased around by Cayden's brother Leo._

_Allegra was in a pair of pastel pink shorts and a white t-shirt decorated with yellow and pink daisies. She wore a pastel pink New Jersey Devils baseball cap. Any trip to the beach required a long session of applying powerful sunscreen and cute hats._

_Leo had the same shaggy brown hair as his brother, but his eyes were more of a grey. He stood an inch shorter than Cayden. The younger McAllister brother ran up behind Allegra and lifted the child up effortlessly. "I've caught my own little fairy!" he cheered as he spun around._

_The little girl wrapped her arms around Leo's neck, and her hat fell off as she giggled uncontrollably. "Why do you call me that?" she asked happily. _

_Leo fell onto the sand tiredly and chuckled. "I call you that because of your ears," he said as he pulled her into his lap so that the two of them could stare out at the ocean water. _

_Allie looked at her uncle strangely. She reached up under her hair and felt her ear. "My ears?" she asked. _

_Leo pushed Allegra's feathery bangs out of her purple eyes. "The first time I saw you, you were a tiny little baby and your ears were pointed like a little elf."_

"_No they weren't!" Allegra argued. "Ears can't be pointy."_

"_Ah, but yours were. So, I guess you're wrong," Leo stated casually._

_Allie turned around in his lap and crossed her arms. "Are you lying to me?" she asked. "Lying is bad," she scolded. _

"_I'm not lying," Leo laughed. "Ask your mother."_

_Allie crawled out of his lap and grabbed his large hand with her two smaller ones. "You. Have. To. Come. Too," she grunted as her feet sunk into the sand. _

"_Oh, but Allegra, I love sitting here. You can see the water and feel the wind," Leo said as Allie yanked and tugged his arm._

_Stephanie laughed. "I don't see why I have to worry about it. He'd never hurt Allegra. He loves his little friend too much."_

"_Mommy!" Allie shrilly screamed. "Uncle Leo's not coming with me!"_

"_Come on Leo," Cayden chastised. "She's six; cut the little girl some slack."_

_Leo looked over his shoulder and laughed. "That defeats the purpose!" he said as Allegra slid onto her butt. The adults started to laugh as Allegra crossed her arms stubbornly and began to pout. The child stood up and ran over to her hat and pulled it on harshly. _

Stephanie's eyes fluttered open as the sounds of hospital cafeteria filled her ears. Her head was resting on her arms as she sat at a table with Ranger. She lifted her head up and looked around sleepily.

Ranger was leaning back in his seat. "Enjoy your nap?" he asked.

Stephanie stretched. "I should probably check on Allegra."

Ranger pointed across the cafeteria. Stephanie looked in the direction he indicated and found Allegra sitting in a wheel chair at a small table. Across from her was Julie and the two of them were eating a salad. Across from her was Julie and the two of them were laughing at something that Julie had said.

"Her uncle brought her in because she wanted to get out of bed. The doctors also wanted to take Cayden in to get some tests done since he's woken up.

"Cayden's awake?"

Ranger nodded. "He's not ready to see people, but yes. Allegra wanted to come with, but the promise of food was more compelling."

Stephanie looked around in curiosity. "Where is the rest of the Wonderland Brigade?"

"Gift shop," Ranger spoke. "Julie's been assigned to keep Allegra busy."

Stephanie nodded and smiled. "I keep thinking about the trips to the Hamptons. Do you and Julie want to come this year? We go in spring and in the summer for a week."

"Will it be with Cayden?"

"The entire Wonderland Brigade goes with us to bond as friends. If you and Julie come, you and I can do some things together."

"Like what?"

Stephanie shrugged. "I don't know. We could go to the beach."

"Babe, do you think I belong on a beach?" Ranger smirked.

Stephanie paused. "If we get you out of your cargo pants and black t-shirts."

"Are you offering to get me out of my clothes, while we're on the beach?" Ranger gave her a wolfish grin.

Stephanie became slightly flustered and looked over at Allegra. "Should she be out of bed?"

"She wouldn't be here is the doctor's didn't want her out of bed," Ranger stated.

Allegra and Julie looked over. Julie nodded to her dad and Allie gave Stephanie a finger wave. The two of them started laughing. James walked over and dropped a stuffed dog on the table. He held a small bouquet of flowers. He walked over to Stephanie.

"My mother asked me to get some flowers for you. She's happy to hear that you, Cayden, and Allegra are safe."

Stephanie took the flowers. "Thank you James."

"No problem," James smiled. "Have a nice lunch."

James walked back over to Allegra. He pulled her wheel chair away from the table. "Come on, the Wonderland Brigade is taking their Alice on a field trip."

"I'm not allowed to leave the hospital," Allie stated.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we're not leaving the hospital," Julie said. She grabbed the stuffed dog and held it out to Allie. "Don't forget Fido."

Allie rolled her eyes. "Where are we going?"

Wendy and John took the lead. "You'll see," they chorused.

Five minutes later, Allie was seated on a couch curled up next to James as they watched Beauty and the Beast in the pediatric ward. Julie and Wendy were playing with a set of building blocks while John, Mark, and Zook were busy playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl on the second TV.

Doctor's had given the group the okay to take over the small recreation center so long as they shared when other children came in. So far two little girls had come in and had taken a seat on a couple of large pillows in front of the couch to watch the movie.

Allie snuggled closer into James's chest. "Why are you so warm and huggable?" she asked.

James hugged her tightly. "Because, that's just the way it works. If I wasn't huggable then you wouldn't want to be around me."

"Nah that would never happen. You would just have to gain some weight."

James chuckled. Allie frowned and buried her face in his shirt. "Dad's going to be okay right?"

"Everyone says he will be. He's still sleepy though, so he's slipping in and out of the realm of sleep," Zook spoke up. "I'm sure your dad's going to be okay."

"Before you know it, he'll be looking over your essays once more and lecturing you about the proper care of books," Wendy said as she finished off her black house.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well I've finished the next chapter for all y'all. It didn't come out as funny as I wanted it too, but I guess I built it up to be far greater in my head. I'm sorry if you were expecting it to be a little more.

I wanted to thank everyone who took the time to respond to the two notes I posted in the last chapter's Author's Note. I worry about trying to get material out to you guys, but this story is active almost every day.

Anyway, just leave a review letting me know what you think. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Shane/Ren


	24. Chapter 23

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty-Three:

The McAllister beach house was by no means a mansion, but it wasn't a small bungalow either. The ground floor housed storage and the three car garage. The second floor held the main living area, and the top two floors were the six bedrooms. The outside had been painted a dark grey with lighter grey trimming.

In general all teenagers were assigned to the largest bedroom on the third floor. It was filled with four sets of bunk beds. Allegra often joked that the place felt more like a teenage summer camp with its simple furniture.

Across the hall from the room was Leo's vacation bedroom. Being the most immature of the McAllister children, the teenagers trusted him. It was an added bonus that Leo had the ears of a hawk, so the adults trusted him to keep an eye on the younger generation.

Next to Leo's bedroom was a room that had always been reserved for Stephanie's visits to the beach house. Like it or not, she was an honorary member of the McAllister family and therefore had the benefits of using their beach house. The bedroom was filled with various shades of blues to create a calm atmosphere.

Cayden's bedroom and the master suite were located on the fourth floor along with one last bedroom. This last bedroom wasn't used often, but should one other sibling join them, there was a place for them to lay their head down.

The twin's parents would be spending a week in Italy like always, and Vanessa was off fighting disease and death in the Middle East.

The garage door opened and Allegra pulled her candy-apple red bug to a stop next to Cayden's Mercedes. Ranger parked the Porsche in the driveway.

Julie, John, Wendy, and Allie got out of the bug as James pulled up in his car with Mason and Zook. Stephanie and Ranger slid out of the comfortable seats of the Porsche and looked around.

"This place is so cool!" Julie exclaimed. "It's big too."

"Not really," Wendy said. "It's only four thousand square feet."

Allegra rolled her eyes. "It's big, but that's because grandma and grandpa have added onto it. Originally it was only three floors and three bedrooms. Dad and his siblings help pay the mortgage on the place so they could afford to add another floor. Everyone uses it, so it really isn't a big deal. I once spent the entire summer here."

"Does your mom help?"

Allegra shook her head. "Dad pays her share so long as she helps with the mortgage on our house in Princeton."

Stephanie and Ranger walked into the garage. Ranger looked at Allie. "Nice vacation home."

"You should see the one in Greece," Allegra grinned.

Stephanie sighed. "She's kidding," she stated. "There's only this one."

James and Mason guided Zook and Julie to the garage elevator as Allegra opened her trunk and started pulling out large duffel bags. Wendy hand Julie her lavender colored bag. Allegra grabbed her light pink bags and sighed. "Why did you pack so much stuff Wendy?" she asked.

Ranger guided Stephanie to the stairs. "No easy way," he said. As they left the garage and started up the stairs he looked at her. "So they all sleep in one room?"

"We don't have enough room to house seven teenagers and six adults. It's been like this for years. Believe it or not, they're good kids and they don't do anything funky. The room doesn't even have a door," Stephanie explained. "It's a loft bedroom, so the whole back end of the room has half a wall. All sounds carry out into the living room."

Ranger felt a little more at ease. He was keeping his eye on Zook and Julie. There were getting close, and he was wary of his fifteen-year-old daughter dating the avid gamer.

Ranger and Stephanie entered the front door and stepped into the living room. The back wall was made of tall window to allow a continued view of the long white beach. The living room itself was filled with four couches positioned around a large coffee table. The table held a large range of board game.

The dining room and kitchen separated the living room from the family room. Ranger could see a flat screen TV, another couch, and a cable box. Through the windows he could see a wood foot path to the beach. He could handle this. A simple vacation with the woman he loved, and their daughters. The added guests just made the trip seem more… family oriented.

Cayden and Leo were seated at a long dining table eating a couple sandwiches. The table was covered with fruits, vegetables, salads, chips, salsa, and various sandwiches.

"Hey dad!" Julie's voice echoed slightly from above him.

Ranger tilted his head up to see the Wonderland Brigade in a line looking down from their communal bedroom.

"This place is pretty cool. Right?" Julie asked.

Ranger nodded. He couldn't argue with her. She grinned and pulled her head back and disappeared into the bedroom. The Wonderland Brigade slowly disappeared.

Leo walked over to Stephanie. "Glad to see you again. I would have said hello to you at the hospital, but you were asleep and my boss decided that he needed to call me as soon as I dropped Allegra off in the cafeteria.

Stephanie hugged Leo. "It's good to see you."

Leonardo McAllister was sixteen when Allegra had been born and he was a pretty rowdy teenager. How he managed to calm himself down when he was around the children had always been a mystery. At seventeen he took on full babysitting responsibilities for the three McAllister offspring.

Leo looked up at the loft opening. "Hurry up kiddies, we're losing beach time!" he said with a bright smile.

"Leo, you're thirty-two. Start acting like it," Cayden stated from his seat. He crutches rested on the table next to him.

"I'm thirty-two almost every single day of my life. I prefer to act like I'm twenty when I'm here at the beach house."

Stephanie looked at Cayden's cast. "How are you going to go to the beach?"

"Leo will be my support. He'll plop me in a chair, and then proceed to chase Allegra around like he always does," Cayden grunted.

"Catching fairies is good luck," Leo defended.

James, Mason, Zook, and John came downstairs in swim trunks and carried large beach towels. It was almost as if the guys had gone shopping before because all of their trunks were various shades of green and blue.

"Julie and Wendy are helping Allegra with her sunblock," John explained.

Stephanie nodded. Allegra loved the beach and the way the sand felt when she would run in it, but she burned too easily without a constant supply of sunblock.

Wendy came down in a pair of light blue jean shorts and a purple bikini top. Mason turned away as a blush crept up his face. "Allie and Julie will be down in a moment. Allegra's having problems with her bottoms or something."

"Wendy, make sure your knots are tied tightly this time," Stephanie said. "We don't need you flashing Mason again."

Cayden looked at Ranger and Stephanie. "If you're going to join us on the beach you better get ready." He looked at the teens. "Eat some food. We're going to be on the beach for a while, and we'll even have a bonfire tonight."

Allie peeked her head out of the loft. "Where's Duke?"

"My room," Leo answered.

"Can he come to the beach?" Julie asked. She liked walking the dog with Allegra.

"Yes," Cayden answered as he popped a grape into his mouth.

Stephanie headed for the stairs. "Come on Batman, it's time to go to the beach."

Ranger mentally rolled his eyes and shook his head. Always the picture of calm on the outside, but on the inside he was always moving around. She was going to force him to wear a swim suit. Good think he packed a pair of black ones.

Stephanie opened her bedroom door as Ranger looked into the loft. The boy's duffel bags were on one side and the girl's colorful bags, blankets, and stuff animals were on the other side. It looked like Wendy and Julie had snagged the two top bunks while Allie was on the bunk below Julie.

Allegra and Julie muffled speech came through the bathroom door only slightly. Stephanie opened her bag as Ranger entered the medium sized bedroom. There was a queen sized bed. Perfect for the two of them.

Before Ranger could pull out his black trunks Stephanie threw a pair at him. They were blue with Hawaiian flowers printed on the legs. "No Rangeman black today."

"Babe," Ranger sighed s her grin grew. He closed the door and pulled his shirt off. He guessed that humoring he was in his and hers best interest.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Tis the start of the Hampton's Arc. I want a lot to happen in this particular story line. It would be really cool if I could develop some of the relationships in this arc. Romantic and family wise. Leo's going to be an integral part towards the end of the arc.

The beach house… It's real. I spent Fourth of July there when I was younger. The only difference is that it was on the beach of Washington State and not in New York. I figure that the set up would be perfect for the McAllister's. And yes, there is a room solely for the younger kids. Apparently my mother's philosophy of all or none is seen throughout her friends. On New Year's a few years back I had thirteen people sleep over and we all crammed ourselves into the assorted furniture of the living room. I remember falling asleep in a basket chair… Anyway, the way it worked out was that if everyone was in one room then there couldn't be any hanky panky… or whatever you want to call it. That's just the way it worked in my family.

This would have been posted earlier if Fanfiction wasn't being a pain in the a**. It wouldn't let me log on till late last night and I had another chapter to post...

Any who, drop me a review. I'd love to hear what you think about this chapter. I got a lot of reviews. I'm fifteen reviews away from reaching the four hundred mark. That's a lot!

Thank you for reading.

Shane/Ren


	25. Chapter 24

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty-Four:

Leo eased Cayden into a wooden beach chair carefully as Stephanie sat p her little nest of snacks and water. Ranger stood next to her, arms crossed and feet apart in his floral swim trunks. He watched at Julie threw a Frisbee to Zook. Stephanie sat down and looked up at him. "Either sit down, or get in the water. Nit picking every friendly gesture that Zook and Julie make towards each other isn't going to quell any fears you have about her dating. Accept it and move on."

Ranger took a seat next to Stephanie in her brown shorts and brown bikini top. Her head was tilted up towards the sky as the warmth of the sun made her smile.

"Duke!" Allegra screamed.

The Great Dane was practically dragging Allegra towards the water. She was wearing a black hat with white letters that read FBI, a grey tank top, and black jean shorts.

James came running after the petite albino and the dog that was too big and too excited. "Duke! Sit!" he yelled.

Allie stumbled and let the leash go as she face planted in the sand. Leo ran over as James helped her into a seating position.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked.

Allie corrected the position of her hat and readjusted her dark sunglasses. "That dog has a scary obsession with the ocean," she grumbled.

James started to brush the sand off of her arms and legs. He looked over to the twins as they jumped around the water trying to catch the almost full grown puppy. "Aren't you going in the water?" he asked as he observed her outfit.

"I'm only going to walk around in the waves."

James saw the outline of her bathing suit. Light pink strings were tied in a knot under Allie's pink hair. "If you aren't going to swim, then why are you wearing a bathing suit?"

"Because it's extremely uncomfortable to walk around in wet underwear and a bra. I know that somewhere along the line of unfortunate events, I'm going to fall and get wet."

James blushed and Leo shook his head. He helped Allegra to her feet before jogging over to the edge of the ocean. He whistled and Duke came running over to him. The large dog jumped on the FBI agent and knocked him onto his butt.

Allie walked over to her mom as she brushed her hair out. "I love Duke, I really do, but he's too strong when he's excited."

Stephanie laughed. "He's more than half your size when he's on four legs and at least twice your weight. Of course you're going to be dragged behind him is he's running."

Cayden smiled. "Put her on asphalt and she can keep up. Sand is difficult to run in."

Allie grinned widely. She liked to run and could proudly claim the title of fastest female sophomore. She sat down in front of Cayden and buried her feet in the sand. James sat next to her as she pulled her iPhone out. She handed him a set of headphones and unwrapped her own set.

"How are you going to listen?" Stephanie asked.

James held up the end of his headphones. The jack was plugged into a headphone splitter. This allows you to plug in two sets of headphones."

"Huh," Stephanie hummed. "Why not go for a walk or something?"

Allie looked over at Leo who was walking over as he held Duke by the collar. "We're waiting for volleyball to be set up," she said.

Leo let Duke go and crossed his arms. "I'm not putting it up by myself."

James laughed. "Allie's too short to set it up properly."

"That's a poor excuse and you know it," Leo retorted. "If the Wonderland Brigade doesn't help with the set up, we aren't playing volleyball."

0o0o0o0

The sun had set an hour ago and the large vacationing group had moved to the bonfire pit farther away from the beach. The Wonderland circled the pit excitedly as they waited for the smores ingredients to be brought out. Allie sat down on a driftwood bench with a speaker system and she plugged her iPhone in and Josh Kelley's _Georgia Clay _began to play.

Julie's face lit up like the fourth of July. "I love this song."

Allie gave her dad a high five. "Told you I could get her to like someone better than Justin Beiber."

Julie started to bob her head to the music.

"I hope we haven't missed all the fun," Clarissa spoke as she and Braden walked over to the bonfire pit.

"Grandma, Grandpa!" Allegra and the twins yelled.

The three ran over and hugged their grandparents. Leo and Cayden waved from the beach chairs. Stephanie stood up and walked over to Braden to give him a hug. Braden pulled the honorary McAllister into a tight hug. "All is well I hope?" he asked.

Stephanie smiled weakly. "I'll tell you about it later, but I'm sure the kids want their smores now. Did you bring the ingredients?"

Allegra took her seat once more and James sat next to her.

"Just trying to steal a kiss on the tailgate of that ride," Allie sang. "Good old days just wash-"

James leaned over and kissed Allie on the lips. She tensed up and her eyes widened behind her sunglasses. James pulled back and smiled. "You shouldn't sing lyrics that give me ideas," he told her.

Julie started laughing as Allie tried to find something else to focus on. She watched as Allegra pushed James off the bench. James grabbed Allie's arms and the two toppled off together. Allegra yelped as she fell on top of him.

The entire group started to laugh hysterically as they looked at the two teenagers. Even Ranger chuckled a bit. Allegra sat on James's stomach and smiled down at him after a moment. "You could have asked you know?"

James reached up and tucked some of Allie's long white hair behind her ear. "That's not nearly as much fun as stealing a kiss from fair maiden's lips."

Ranger walked over to Stephanie. "Let's go for a walk," he said.

Stephanie looked at him curiously before nodding. "Okay."

As they were walking off, Allegra rolled off of James. "Whatever you do, don't have sex on the beach. Sand gets in uncomfortable and unmentionable places," she yelled.

Stephanie turned to look at her daughter. Allegra and Julie were stand side by side with their hands curved to form hearts. "Love you!" they chorused.

Ranger shook his head. "It's scary how close teenage girls can get." That stuff never happened with the male sex.

"They've still got a ways to go until they're as close as Mary Lou and I were at that age. Soon Julie and Allie will be sneaking out of the house to meet and discuss their deepest and darkest secrets in the dead of night."

"Julie can't sneak out of Rangeman," Ranger stated.

Stephanie laughed. "Keep thinking that. She'll find a way to get out if it's important enough."

Ranger felt some of the blood leave his face. Was she telling the truth? Would Julie sneak out to meet a boy when the night was pitch black? He would have to talk to Tank about tightening security at the office.

"What's going on Batman?" Stephanie asked feigning ignorance.

Everyone knew that Stephanie and Allegra were having problems after the abduction. Stephanie had yet to convince herself that make up was a good thing. She was eating more Jelly doughnuts then she cared to admit. But to her credit she was walking off the extra calories with Duke on their evening outings. Allegra's grades had dropped slightly and her music had taken on a melancholy air.

"You haven't spoken about the abduction," Ranger said. "You can't keep it locked up inside. It kills the spirit."

Stephanie frowned. "Since everyone found out about Allegra, I've been forced to think about the rape that brought her into this world. However, when I see her with Julie, and I see the two of them smile. I feel like my family is going to be great. Allegra isn't smiling like she used too. It's forced and faked. Seeing her smile at James, I had to wonder if it was real."

"She doesn't want to worry you," Ranger said.

"She talks to Cayden and me about everything, but she hasn't started talking about this. Ranger, she was kidnapped by her biological father and thought that her dad had been murdered. I don't know how to talk to her about it."

"You'll figure it out," Ranger said. "You always do, but I actually wanted to talk about you. You don't talk much when you're in the office."

"Are you pointing this out because we haven't had sex for three weeks?" Stephanie asked bitterly.

Ranger stopped walking and looked at her. "I don't expect you to jump into my bed after a trauma like the one you went through. I'd be more worried if you were having sex with me right now. You were kidnapped by your rapist and that's going to take some getting time to get over it once more," he explained. "I want to know that _you're_ okay. I worry about you just like everyone else does. I'm worried about Allegra just like you, but I know that like her mother, she'll talk when she's ready."

Stephanie stared at him for a moment. He actually understood. The man in front of her was willing to wait until she was ready to be intimate again. She walked back to him and pulled him into a kiss.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Ranger pulled her back into the kiss and the two made out under the silvery moonlight.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well that was fun. I did so enjoy this chapter. I've been trying to decide how Allegra's first kiss should happen, and I wanted to set up some stuff for the next chapter and I think I did that. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

I really shouldn't have posted when fanfiction was having so many problems, but I hate having something sit on my computer. If I don't post, I grow negligent in my writing. So I posted the last chapter in the midst of a login fiasco for many of you guys. I apologize for that, and thank everyone for their kind reviews in the last chapter.

I'm glad that I got all of this written out quickly. I have a couple of arcs coming up that can be a lot of fun, or wind up in disaster. So I need you guys to submit honest reviews. That way I know if I've done something horribly wrong with the story line. Rest assured there is going to be a lot of movement in Stephanie and Rangers relationship. A couple more date scenes.

Note: Don't ever expect a lemony scene from me. I can't write a sex scene to save my life. Probably because I'm still quite young… Anyway, I can write the stuff leading up to and after sex, but actual sex scenes… Nope. Besides, I think this story is more geared towards the development of an odd family.

Drop a review letting me know what you think of the chapter. I didn't respond to the reviews of the last chapter, but that's because fanfiction has been crazy in its operations and I wasn't going to try my luck. Responses will start again this chapter.

Shane/Ren


	26. Chapter 25

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty-Five:

Allegra snapped up in her bed. Her eyes were wide in terror and she had broken out in a cold sweat. She grabbed her glasses and a light sweater from a dresser and left the bedroom. She pulled her cell phone from its charger in the kitchen and plugged in her headphones. She quietly opened the front door and headed to the beach.

The nightmares had become too frequent for Allegra to ignore, but she didn't want to bother her mom and dad. They were both trying to get over their traumas.

AS she sat on the soft sand, she stared at the ocean as the moon's beams hit the water. She smiled as she slid her headphones into her ears.

She stared out at the cold waters and let her mind wander. She closed her eyes and rested her head on her knees. She opened her eyes when she felt the sand shift beside her.

Leo pulled her headphones out. "Do you want to tell me why you're here on the beach and not snuggled up in your bed next to Captain Kuma-chan."

Allegra looked at the water. "He won't leave me alone," she said.

"Who?" Leo asked, but he knew the answer. There was only one man that could keep Allegra awake.

"My real dad," She whispered. She rubbed her eyes. "He said that I'm just like him."

"Allegra, you don't honestly think that do you?" Leo asked.

"I'm an albino like him," Allie said. "Who's to say that there isn't this part of me capable of hurting someone?"

"I know you Allie," Leo stated. "You are incapable of being a bitch to anyone but Joyce Barnhardt, even then you only resort to name calling."

"I told mom that personality traits have been linked to genetics," Allie said casually as she avoided her uncle's gaze.

"There are also studies that show that factors such as belief systems, family support, and social background can help determine a person's likelihood to commit violent acts," Leo answered. "Do you think that because you share one genetic condition with Magnusson that you might end up hurting someone?"

"I don't know what to think," Allie said. "I mean, I kind of understand him. I know what it's like to be the freak show, to hear the hushed toned to wonder and fear. It's not easy to go through it alone, and I wonder if that's why he raped mom and the others."

"I looked at the psych evaluation that was done on Magnusson when I joined the FBI," Leo said. "Back when I wasn't doing white collar crime."

Allie looked at her uncle in surprise. He had been pulled into the White Collar Crime Division immediately. He had an eye for detail, so spotting a forgery was kind of his thing. He knew what was real and what wasn't.

"You forget, I got a Master's degree in Psychology from Cal. I can get my hands on any psych report performed by the police and FBI. So land as I say it's 'research'," Leo smiled.

"Is that illegal?"

"If I keep writing papers on it then there isn't a problem."

"That's evil."

"That's life," Leo stated. "My point is, Daniel Magnusson has been troubled his entire life. Even before the bullying started. His parents were abusive. You'll never end up like him because you have a family that loves and cares about you. You've never had to worry about disapproval and neglect like he did."

"Why am I the only one you have a nickname for?" Allegra asked. She lifted her pale feet out of the sand and wiggled her toes.

"The twins are the little devils," Leo smiled. He looked at the ocean. "The night you were born, I was supposed to die."

"What?" Allie asked as her eyes grew.

"I was supposed to go out with some friends to a school event, but Cayden called the house and asked me to bring Stephanie's ready bag because her water broke while they were at a restaurant. I left a note on the front door of my house and ran four blocks to catch a bus to the hospital. That night on their way home three of my friends were killed when a drunk driver hit them into the path of an oncoming train.

"Like you one of my friends was this amazingly brilliant individual, and her name was Faye. You took your first breath when she took her last one."

Leo was silent as Allegra processed his story. "So that's how I got my middle name," she said quietly.

"Yep, your little fairy because Faye would have wanted me to find something good that came out of that day."

"Is that why you've never touched alcohol?" Allie asked.

"I can't bring myself to," Leo said. He stood up. "Come on, let's get you back inside. You need to sleep."

Allie held a hand out and Leo pulled her up.

"The Wonderland Brigade reminds me of Faye and the others. Stay close okay."

"Kay," Allie smiled. "Race you to the house?"

Leo grinned. "All right."

Allegra stumbled into a heavy sprint as she pushed past Leo. He caught up quickly and grabbed her around the waist and spun her around quickly.

"Hey, you can't do that," Allie giggled.

"Leo let her go. "Go right back to bed. No stalling."

Allie nodded. She jogged up the stairs and entered the house quietly. Leo watched the house for a moment and he knew that he was making Faye proud.

0o0o0o0

Stephanie woke up the next morning and walked downstairs to find Leo sitting at the bar with a contemplative stare. He held an untouched mug of coffee in one hand.

"What's up Leo?" she asked.

"I told Allegra about Faye last night," Leo said. "She was worried about being like her dad, and it was giving her nightmares."

Stephanie poured herself a cup of the fresh coffee. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her the truth," Leo stated. "I told her that she would never be like Magnusson because she and Magnusson aren't the same person."

Stephanie sat next to Leo. She had spent several hours at the McAllister's house watching Leo and his high school friends hang out and talk about school and the future. "James and Allie remind me of you and Faye. Do you think that you'll ever find someone like her again?"

Leo smiled. "Maybe, but sometimes I feel like I for the best I was ever going to get. For now, I'll focus on trying to be the best that I can be."

Stephanie smiled. "Don't give up. It took me thirty years to find the best."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Hey it took me a week, but I got it done. I know it's centered on the Original Characters, but I wanted to put in some character development. I'm going to get back to the development of a strange family.

Anyway, I'm working on a lot of stuff right now, but I'm going to try and get a chapter out once a week. It's very busy right now with school and work, but I'm still writing a lot.

Drop a review by and I'll try to respond as soon as I can. I love hearing from you guy, and this story is a lot of fun to write.

Shane


	27. Chapter 26

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty-Six:

As Ranger walked the streets of the Hamptons, he felt his body relax as he kept pace with Stephanie. It was their last day in the vacation town and Ranger was going to make it count.

This meant a nice dinner without teenagers, rambunctious dogs, and assorted family members. He even planned for the teens to go to a movie. That gave him at least an hour and a half of uninterrupted time with Stephanie.

He watched as she stopped to admire a necklace in a jewelry store window. He found it odd because she didn't really wear jewelry all that much. She was very casual. But with her job, wearing a necklace could be very bad. Especially if someone tried to choke you with it. It had happened to him once, and now he gauged every opportunity to wear his dog tags, and the occasional gold chain. Earrings were a problem too. It was as if you were inviting someone to rip them right out of the earlobe. And bracelets could impair one's ability to catch and detain a skip. It was always best for a bond enforcement agent to just stick to the basics.

Stephanie turned to look at Ranger. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes," Ranger answered. He was more than okay.

"You're quieter than usual, and that's saying something," Stephanie mused. "If you're bored, we could do something else."

"No Babe," Ranger smiled softly. "Walking is fine," he reassured her as he held out one of his hands for Stephanie to take.

Stephanie smiled and took his hand in her. It was hard for her to believe it at first, but the idea of she and Ranger raising a family together pleased her more than anyone could possibly know.

The two of them stopped walking so that they could look over a railing onto a nice beach. The Wonderland Brigade was playing a game of tag.

"If Allegra has nicknames for everyone, then what does she call Cayden and Leo?" Ranger asked. It was a question he had been meaning to ask all week. Allegra wasn't walking around calling anyone by their assigned nicknames and it was a little troublesome to the former army Ranger. Allegra was always calling someone by their assigned literary reference.

"The McAllister family was assigned Arthurian Characters," Stephanie smiled. "Braden and Clarissa are Merlin and The Lady of the Lake. Mark is Percival, Leo is Lancelot, Vanessa is Morgan la Faye, and Cayden is Arthur. I'm not sure what she calls the twins mother. I think she's Morgan la Faye's sister."

"Isn't Morgan la Faye an evil witch that tries to kill Arthur?" Ranger asked. The bad guys were never assigned to friends and family. After all Joyce Barnhardt was the Queen of Hearts…

Stephanie grinned. She was familiar with Arthurian legend. It was one of Allie's favorite stories growing up. The two of them would run around the beach acting out Arthur's final battle, cry over Gwenevere leaving Arthur for Lancelot, and their favorite one was to pretend to be Merlin so that they could cast magic spells on people who were mean to the small child. "In earlier tale, she was a healer and never tried to plot against Arthur."

Ranger nodded in understanding. Fitting for a doctor to be assigned the name of a healer. "So Leo is the only on in the family who isn't some sort of doctor?"

"No, he is," Stephanie smiled. "Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Leo McAllister. His Ph.D. is in Psychology from Stanford, he got it two years ago."

"And Allegra will join those ranks?" Ranger asked. At least that's what he assumed would happen. When you grew up around such powerful and intelligent family influences, he couldn't imagine not going all the way.

Stephanie beamed in pride as she looked at her daughter reading on a large rock. "She'll get a degree in music or English."

"Why not both?" Ranger asked. Surely someone like Allie could do it. He had managed a peek at her school file back when he didn't even know who she was. It was beyond impressive. At least to him it was.

"She doesn't know what she wants to do, so that may be the case. She doesn't really need two doctorates though," Stephanie said. "What about Julie. Do you know what she wants to do?"

"I don't care what she wants to do. As long as she goes on to get a Master's degree, I don't car," Ranger said.

"Stephanie leaned on the railing as she watched the waves crash against the sand. There was enough wind for you get waves, but you couldn't surf on them. Not that you would want to, Hawaii was where you went for that sort of thing. "Why's that?"

"With a Master's Degree, you can support a family of four," Ranger answered. He'd done his research, and he highly doubted that Julie was going to go into the family business. With the Wonderland Brigade as his own personal tutoring army, he was certain that Julie would do well in high school and in college.

Ranger's eyes widened ever so slightly as he watched Julie jump onto Zook's back. The father's thoughts came to a screeching halt when she kissed him on the cheek.

Stephanie laughed. She had seen the reaction, even if Ranger had tried to hide it to the best of his ability. "Who didn't see that coming from a mile away?" she asked.

The signs had been there. Julie and Zook were in a separate school from the rest of the brigade. They bonded in Trenton during school hours and later met up with the rest of the gang to talk, laugh, and enjoy their time as teenagers. Stephanie did it, and she was pretty certain that Ranger had as well.

Ranger gripped the railing tightly. Stephanie hugged him as she tried to contain her laughter. She leaned in to kiss him. "They're teenagers. Let them do stupid things like date at sixteen. All you need to do is be there to pick her up when she falls."

Ranger turned in Stephanie's embrace. "Would you say the same thing if it was Allegra?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I wouldn't need to," Stephanie smiled. "James would never intentionally hurt Allegra," She explained. "I know it's hard to believe right now given his history as a tagger, but Zook is a good kid. I can't see him ever hurting Julie."

Ranger pulled Stephanie closer. "Any guy touching my daughter is no good."

Stephanie laughed as leaned in to kiss him again. "A dad I never truly pleased."

0o0o0o0

Allegra sat on top of a large boulder as she read a new book. She was about to turn the page when Julie climbed up onto the rock to join her.

The beach wasn't very crowded even with Spring Break in full swing. This was probably because all the college student were holed up in their parents million dollar mcmansions trying to open the liquor cabinet with all the keys they could find.

Occasionally a couple would walk by holding hands as they spoke quietly, but the beach was left to the Wonderland Brigade as the grandparents were off shopping and Leo and Cayden were out getting lunch together to talk. The teens had left Ranger and Stephanie to their own devices in the hope of pushing the two parent's relationship closer together.

"Do you need more sunscreen?" Julie asked as she looked around.

Allegra was reluctantly dressed in jeans and a light sweater. This meant she was banned from going into the water. All because she got a small burn on the back of her neck. She swore she covered that area.

Allegra shook her head as the wind blew her white hair into her face. "I put some on a half hour ago," she answered. "Thanks for asking though."

Julie sat down and smiled. "Are you okay?"

"No, everyone else gets to run in the water, while I'm stuck wearing actual clothes. This is so not beach attire," Allegra pouted.

Julie scanned the ocean water. "It's not all that great actually. The water is kind of cold today," she said. "Dad sad that he's paying for us to go see a movie while he and Steph go out to dinner."

Allegra looked at her friend. "Do you want to do something else?" she asked. Movies weren't really her thing most days. If the screen got too bright it might hurt her eyes, so she always had to bring sunglasses in to the theater.

"If my dad wasn't a former Ranger adept at picking up a tail, then I'd say we should follow them and monitor their progress."

"Oh yeah, that would totally work," Allie snorted. "No thank you. I'd like to live past tomorrow."

"Me too," Julie grinned as she hugged her knees. "Have you done the Hampton's scavenger hunt?"

"No," Allegra answered as she closed her book. In the many times that she had come to the McAllister family vacation home, she had never done the famed scavenger hunt.

"It's just something I saw on the internet. You're given clues and you visit some of the Hamptons more popular sights, shops, and eateries. We could do boys versus girls thing. Make a game of it."

Allegra looked around and found Ranger and Stephanie kissing up on the sidewalk leading into the beach. "We'd have to talk to our parents."

"Leo can do it with us. He's really cool."

"But if there are two teams, then we need two adults," Allegra pointed out. "Let's get our math straight here."

"So ask one of your grandparents. Come on it will be so much fun!"

Allegra shrugged slightly. It would be fun to make a contest of it all. Whoever finished the hunt first could make the other team do something funny, or better yet, something embarrassing.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: I am so sorry that it took me this long to post again. I've been stuck on how to end this little event. Earlier this week I finally was able to sit down and start writing again. As I came to the end of this chapter I found out how I wanted to end this arc. We'll see that in the next chapter. I have to really apologize to anyone who has me on an author alert because you'll see that I've updated a lot of stuff except Best Kept, and I felt really bad.

Next week will mark the end of my freshman year of college. Believe me when I say it's been a little more than hectic. What with evil music teachers, naps during math class, discussion about the White House in Political Science, and overall madness in my English class, I'm surprised that I got all the stuff that I did get written done. This may be because I had those plot lines planned out for months…

Drop me a review and I'll try to get the next chapter out to you sometime after Thursday next week. That's when finals will be done.

Shane


	28. Chapter 27

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Stephanie stared at herself in the mirror. She had put out all the stops when it came to make-up, and it still didn't seem like enough. Her red lipstick was borderline slut, and her hair had a gravitational pull of its own. The one thing that stopped her from going a little farther on the blush was the pounding on the other side of the door.

"Stephanie!" Leo yelled. "The girls commandeered the other bathroom and I need to pee. Can't you finish in your room?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes. She pulled the door open and pushed past a shaking Leo. "I told you that drinking all that Lemonade would be bad."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Leo moaned. "Now please excuse me while I empty m very full bladder."

Stephanie laughed as she headed down the long hallway. "Thank you for supervising the scavenger hunt with the kids."

"No problem!" Leo shouted quickly as he slammed the door shut.

Stephanie entered her room as Ranger was pulling on a nice button up shirt. Stephanie leaned against the wall as Ranger carefully buttoned the shirt. Her mouth began to water as she admired the way the shirt clung to his hard abs.

"Do you like what you see?" Ranger asked as he gave her a wolfish grin.

"I always like what I see," Stephanie smiled. She spun around. "And how about me?"

"Beautiful Babe," Ranger said walking over. He put his hand on her hips and drew her in closer. "We might not leave the house," he whispered as he kissed her neck gently.

"But I'm hungry," Stephanie said coyly with a dumb smile. She missed this. She missed Ranger's intimate touches and glances. She was ready to forget the whole fiasco with Magnusson, but only if Ranger was there to help her forget.

"Babe, I could make you forget about food." Ranger said as his dark eyes gazed into her.

"I know," Stephanie said before kissing him. "But you made reservations," she stated as she backed up.

Ranger swore quietly in Spanish as Stephanie sashayed out the door. He followed her eagerly downstairs to the living room. The male half of the Wonderland Brigade was seated on the couch watching a crime drama.

Mason looked at Stephanie. "Why do girls spend so much in the bathroom?" he asked. Obviously 'female time' meant nothing to a teenage boy. Let alone one who was a good at math and grew up as an only child.

"Because, we have to do more to get ready," Julie answered from the loft opening of the teen co-ed room. "We're coming down."

The three girls came down with Leo in tow. Allegra quickly jumped of the last step onto Leo's back and wrapped her arms around his neck. She grinned mischievously as Leo grabbed her legs to keep her up. "You're lucky, you're so light," Leo grunted as he shifted slightly to keep his balance.

"I wouldn't jump on your back if I didn't think you could hold me," Allegra stated.

"All right kiddies. Boys will be in James' car, while the girls tag along with me," Leo said as if he were addressing soldiers in a platoon ready to march into battle.

"Remember," Cayden spoke form the dining room. "Even if you aren't finished, you're to be back here by eleven."

"Okay," Julie and Allie chorused.

Ranger placed a gentle hand on Stephanie's lower back. "Babe, we need to get going."

Stephanie nodded. She walked over to Leo and kissed Allegra on the forehead. "Raise some hell for me," she smiled.

"I can do that," Allie grinned as she closed her eyes tightly.

Ranger and Stephanie left the beach house and Allegra slid off of Leo's back as Julie rushed over to the window. Allegra and Wendy joined her and they let out a collective "Awwww".

"He opened the door for her," Wendy sighed dreamily as if she was reading a sappy romance novel.

"Of course he did," Julie stated. "That's my dad we're talking about."

"Mom wouldn't have it any other way," Allegra shook her head.

"Stop spying on your parents," Clarissa scolded from the kitchen as she browned some meat for the members of the family who would be staying inside.

"But its fun," Allie and Julie chorused.

0o0o0o0

Stephanie's mouth began to water as she watched waiters bring out trays and trays of freshly cooked seafood. She longingly gazed in envy as people got their delicious food before her. Her nostrils were on over drive from the smells of lobster, crab, and butter. Oh glorious butter.

Now nothing could compare with Pino's meatball sub, but she wasn't about to turn down a fifty dollar lobster at one of the finest dining establishments in the Hamptons.

Ranger sat across from her with a coy smile in place. Stephanie's expressions when food was concerned were truly amusing. He only liked one facial expression more. It was the post coital look on her face as she slept next to him that really got to him.

There was no denying that the man loved Stephanie Plum, but there were still skid marks on his ass from the first marriage he went through. Jumping in too fast had far too many risks. He could not lose the chance at a family; lose a lover, and most importantly his friend.

"I'm going to buy a house," Ranger told Stephanie. This was something that he had been discussion with Tank and the two were looking for something appropriate. Now, he needed to know what Stephanie thought.

Stephanie arched a thin eyebrow as she took a sip of red wine. "What did this come from?" she asked. She tried to picture Ranger in a house with a white picket fence and she almost choked from the comedy of it all.

"Julie doesn't like the seventh floor apartment," Ranger stated. "She keeps telling me that it's too small."

"So, you're going to buy a house?" Stephanie asked.

"Maybe in Princeton," Ranger continued. "Julie could go to school with Allegra starting next year."

"Allegra's at Princeton next year," Stephanie stated. "Also, if Julie doesn't go to school in Trenton, then Zook will be alone. His mother stopped me in the grocery store the other day. Did you know that Zook is now passing all of his classes? Julie and he spend their lunch in their English class. They do homework together, eat together, and Zook gives her a ride to meet up with the rest of the Wonderland Brigade. If you send Julie to school in Princeton, you need to send Zook there too."

Ranger smirked. "Works for me. Or, he could just stay in Trenton."

"Ranger, she likes Zook. Get over it," Stephanie sighed.

0o0o0o0

Allegra, Julie, and Wendy skipped along the sidewalk, arms links, as they laughed giddily. Leo followed leisurely five feet behind them, remaining alert as he searched for possible danger. Allegra and Julie stopped simultaneously pulling Wendy back. They looked across the street to find their parents conversing in a dimly lit restaurant window. "I propose a game!" Allegra stated excitedly.

"Is this the 'improv their dialogue' game?" Wendy asked. She had played it many times before with the rest of the Wonderland Brigade, and it was a lot of fun to see what other people could come up with.

Leo walked over and stopped behind the girls. "Stop spying on Stephanie while she's on a date," he said.

"Oh, Carlos, I don't know what to say," Allie said sweetly as she watched her mom shake her head. "This is all so sudden."

"Say that you'll marry me. Then you and Allie can move in to a nice home with me and Julie," Julie said in her lowest register trying to imitate her father's voice.

Allie's blood ran cold and her eyes widened. "No!" she screamed. She pulled herself away from her best friend and ran down the street, never looking back as Julie became extremely confused.

"Allegra!" Leo yelled. He looked at Julie and Wendy. "Stay her. Wait for me to come back. I'm going to try and catch up to her." Leo ran off quickly chasing after the bobbing head of white hair as she ran away from her family and friends.

0o0o0o0

"Ranger, I can't move in with you and with Allegra," Stephanie said as she shook her head.

Ranger stared at the woman before him as she picked at her nails. He had proposed that Stephanie and Allegra move in with him and Julie when they did find a house. He thought it was a good idea. Apparently, Stephanie had a completely different opinion.

"This is because of Dickie, and how he manipulated Allegra?" Ranger asked.

"I would love to live with you," Stephanie said as she avoided his piercing gaze. And that was the truth, she did want to live with Ranger, but as a mother, she had to put her daughter first. "Allegra won't leave Cayden's side until she goes to the University of her choice. She's made it perfectly clear that that is what she wants to do.

"What exactly did Dickie do to her?" Ranger asked. The more he heard about Mr. Orr, the more he hated the man.

"Allegra was going through a phase where she would throw a fit if Cayden didn't get her what she wanted. Dickie gave her everything… but it came with rules," Stephanie told him. "Allie couldn't call Cayden from the house. She couldn't have pictures of him. Cayden had gotten sick, and Allie wanted to go see him, but Dickie picked her up from school early and took her to an amusement park so that the two of them could 'bond'."

"What did you do?" Ranger asked.

"I didn't know," Stephanie said. "Allie keeps her mouth shut when she's told to. She told Cayden about it later when she moved back in with him before my divorce. He told me, and I just about killed my ex-husband."

Ranger sighed. It seemed like this was an all or nothing kind of deal. "What if we were to get a bigger house with Cayden?" he asked. Allegra could still live with Steph and him without disturbing her close relationship with her dad.

Stephanie's eye widened. "And if something happens in our relationship? We'll own a house together."

"We're both mature enough to stay friends. Our daughters love each other, so we would have to see each other anyway. They already act like sisters. They would love living together," Ranger explained. This was about creating an odd family dynamic that worked for Stephanie and Ranger. He was willing to make some sacrifices, and one of them was a small amount of privacy. As long as Stephanie shared it with him, he would be okay.

There was a long minute before Stephanie spoke. His plan was sound. "We need to have a family meeting first," Stephanie said. "And you'll do the talking when it comes to Allegra."

Ranger leaned back in his seat as their food was brought over. He could deal with that.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well… two car accidents, the missed work days, and four finals later, I present to you the next chapter… Darn I was really hoping to end this arc, but it seems that my brain is hell bent on adding more drama into the mix. I tried to focus more on the development of Stephanie and Rangers relationship in this chapter. I hope it worked out.

_**Important News: **__1.)_ The month of August is going to be full of changes. I'm going back and working on editing and rewriting _The Death Card_ so that the material is more like what I'm posting at the moment. So I'll be keeping people posted on that as well. This also means that I'll be going in and editing some parts of _The Best Kept Secrets_. This mostly consists of me looking for typos and sentences that don't make sense.

2.) I can still write this story. However, I need to know what would you prefer to see. Would you like to see this all as one story as they become a family, or would you prefer to see me end the story at an appropriate spot, and start another one? Just let me know in a review.

3.) Ren Kayashima can now be your friend on Facebook. I know that many people are concerned about sharing info. Don't worry about that. I'm not saying people have to follow me there. I created the account to talk with several people on that also created separate accounts. I'll be posting links and a lot more updates there. If you don't want to do that, I also have a twitter and tumblr. Mostly because I get really bored. Like I said, you can choose not to follow me. I just wanted to let everyone know that I would be posting updates and story statuses on those sites.

Drop me a review because I know you want to.

Shane


	29. Chapter 28

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Wendy followed the frantic Julie into the elegant sea food restaurant. Julie blatantly ignored the stuttering hostess and marched over to her father. The fifteen year old crossed her arms and began a staring match.

Ranger wiped his mouth with the edge of his napkin. On the outside he was the picture of calm, inside his mind was racing. Julie wanted to look angry, but her eyes told him that she was worried. Where were Leo and Allegra?

"What's going on?" Stephanie asked as she watched Wendy wring her hands nervously.

"Allegra ran off," Wendy said. "She got really upset suddenly and just bolted."

"What!" Stephanie yelled drawing attention to their table. "What happened?" she asked lowering her voice.

"We saw you in the window eating, and were playing a game," Julie paused as she looked at the ground. "We were just improving dialogue based on what you were doing, and I said something."

"What did you say?" Ranger asked calmly. If the girls were here, that meant that Leo was already running around the Hamptons searching for the little albino. It shouldn't be too hard. Then again, Allegra was fast and agile. If she didn't want to get caught, she wouldn't be.

"I said that you and I should live with Allie and Stephanie," Julie mumbled.

Stephanie threw her napkin on the table. "I need to find her." Stephanie was about to walk away when Ranger gently grabbed her arm. He stood up.

"Let me handle this," he said. "Allegra and I are long overdue for a talk, and it seems like this may be as good a time as any."

Ranger gazed at Stephanie, and she felt herself relax as she looked at his dark orbs. She knew that the ex-military man would be better at this. All Stephanie would do was run down the streets screaming her daughter's name. Ranger would approach the situation rationally and he had skills that would be beneficial to locating Allie.

"Call Leo, and have him take you and the girls home. I'll find Allegra and bring her back," Ranger said as he pulled his wallet out. "Give the waiter my card, and I'll see you later."

Ranger pressed a gentle kiss into Stephanie's temple. He left the restaurant and pulled out his phone. Surely, Allegra had her cell phone on her. He called Tank. "Can you tell me where Allegra's phone is?"

"Did something happen to Alice?" Tank asked. All of Rangeman had started referring to the Wonderland Brigade by their assigned 'code names' since the episode at the club. It was a fun way to remind Allegra of her crowning moment in the hospital.

"Teenage Drama," Ranger stated.

"Did she and the Mad Hatter get into a fight?"

"No, this is about me and Steph."

"What did you do this time?" Tank asked. Ranger may love Stephanie, but he could do things that upset her, and Tank had to wonder if this was one of those times.

"Just send me the location," Ranger said before hanging up. It took a minute, but Tank sent the address and a short message. _She's at a park. Fix this._

Ranger quickly drove off. He let out a long mental groan. This was never easy. Hell, Stephanie was a complete mystery at times, and adding a daughter to the mix only complicated the puzzle that was Stephanie Plum. However, every twist and turn made Carlos Manoso love her even more.

Ranger pulled to a stop in front of a nice playground and scanned the area. This was where Allegra's phone was, so she should be there. She didn't lose her phone. It was never done. It carried her music and mindless hours of entertainment. He was about to call Tank again when he saw a flash of white. It was in a large oak tree.

Ranger didn't actually expect to find the sixteen year old in the tree, but he did. She was perched on a thick branch about fifteen feet up. She leaned against the trunk and had her head tilted up towards the sky. Ranger had to wonder how she had lifted herself up, but then he remembered that this was Stephanie's daughter. Climbing trees was an expertise that was mastered at a young age.

"Allegra?" Ranger spoke just loud enough for her to hear.

Allegra looked down at him. "Leave me alone," she said bitterly. "I don't want to talk to you."

Ranger looked at the thick lower limbs and he strategically started making his way up. He could probably get about five feet away from her. Any higher and the branches weren't likely to support all two hundred pounds of muscle. Allegra stared at him for a moment. "Bold," she muttered sarcastically before moving farther up the tree. After all, she was ninety-five pound and could afford to venture higher.

"Your mom's worried about you," Ranger sighed as he sat down and wrapped his legs around the limb. Julie is too."

"Why do you care?"

Ranger realized something. Being nice and cordial wouldn't get him anywhere with the teen. She was too smart to see through the smiles and simple statements. Being honest would help him here, and if that meant he was irritated, then he was going to sound irritated.

"You ruined my date with your mom," Ranger said. "We were talking about moving into a house together. With you and Julie."

Allegra snapped her head in his direction. "No! I won't leave my dad."

Ranger groaned. "I know that now. Stephanie's told me all about it. I'm willing to find a place with Cayden. As long as we have our separate spaces in the house, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure we can find something big enough in Princeton."

Allegra paused before crawling down. She sat on a branch just above Ranger, but she was spaced far enough away that he couldn't reach her. Not that he would. Reaching out for Allie would mean that they would both fall out of the tree, and he was certain that Allegra would get hurt. It doesn't bode well when you hurt your girlfriend's daughter.

Allegra tilted her head to the side and tried to pick out some sort of facial expression that would give her some sort of clue to the man's intentions. She narrowed her eyes. "You're so hard to read," she whispered. Her mom was an open door for emotions, so it was easy to read her. Ranger was another story.

"It would be easier if we were somewhere that had decent lighting," Ranger stated. "Like the beach house."

"No, mom won't leave me alone after this," Allie said. "She'll start fussing all over me."

"Do you want to go for a drive in the Porsche?" Ranger asked. Mostly because he wanted to get out of this tree. He wasn't feeling so confident when it came to the limb he was sitting on.

Allegra shrugged. "Do we have to talk?" she asked.

"Yes," Ranger answered simply. The teen's facial features were much easier to read with her pale skin. "Allegra, I'm not going to talk while we're in this tree, but if you don't get out of it in the next minute, I will find a way to get you out of it and in my car."

Allegra gave him a challenging glare before climbing around the tree. She dropped to the ground gracefully and walked over to the swing set. She grabbed hold of a swing and sat down. Ranger dropped out of the tree with a hard _thud_. It wasn't quite as graceful as Allie's hop, skip, and a jump, but he was standing and hadn't lost his balance. He walked in the sand over to the swing set. "You have conflict avoidance issues," he told her.

"You have commitment issues," Allie countered.

"I'm working on it," Ranger grunted as he crossed his arms.

"And I'm working on talking things out with people, but excuse me if I don't want to share my feelings with mom's macho man," Allegra growled.

"What does this have to do with me and your mom living together?"

Allegra yawned and Ranger mentally smirked. This conversation wouldn't last long. "Moving in with you means I won't see my dad."

Ranged walked closer and crouched down in front of her. Allegra met his gaze as she gripped the chains tightly. Big guys getting close made her nervous. "I'm not going to take you away from Cayden. I'm not like Dickie. I want to know what makes Stephanie's daughter tick, but I won't force you to abandon the man that raised you. Especially since he helped Stephanie in a way that I can't possibly compete." It was true. Cayden knew Stephanie before Ranger did, and he helped her with her rape, Cayden didn't ask for something from Stephanie, and he stepped up to the plate when she needed him too.

Allegra looked at the sand as she pushed herself back and forth slowly. Dickie wanted her to change. He wanted her to do ballet, but Stephanie put a stop to it when the little girl in her pink tutu nearly broke her ankle. Next was the Easy Bake Oven debacle. It seemed like Dickie wanted to mold Allie into burg material, but that didn't work for the little girl who liked Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Doyle. The girl who spend countless hours reading Nancy Drew and solving wooden puzzles. She was the kind of girl who helped her grandfather fix up the old mustang in his garage. She enjoyed helping Uncle Leo with the New York Times crossword; by ten they were doing it in pen.

She looked up to meet Ranger's eyes. "I don't need to be a burg child?" she asked quietly.

"Your mom isn't a burg wife, so why would you be a burg child?"

Allegra launched herself forward and hugged Ranger. He wasn't going to change her. She smiled when Ranger carefully wrapped his arms around her petite waist. "Ready to go back to the beach house?" he asked.

"No," Allegra yawned.

"Okay, we'll drive around for a little bit until you're ready."

0o0o0o0

Ranger entered the beach house carrying Allegra carefully. She had fallen asleep as they drove around the vacation spot. This was his plan all along. Stephanie wouldn't fuss over a sleeping child. That would mean possibly waking them up.

Stephanie was on the living room couch biting her nails as her legs bounced. She jumped up when she saw two of the most important people in her life enter the house. She quickly walked over. "Is she okay?" she asked quickly.

"You never told me that she could climb trees as well as you," Ranger whispered.

"She likes to read in them," Stephanie laughed. "You can put her on the couch; you shouldn't have to carry her upstairs. The kids are all in the bedroom waiting to hear news."

Ranger shrugged her suggestion off and looked up at the loft opening to see everyone looking down at them. Leo's worn features relaxed when he saw his little fairy peacefully asleep. Ranger made his way to the stairs.

Once Allegra was locked away in the bedroom, with James and Julie by her side, Ranger pulled Stephanie into their bedroom.

"So?" Stephanie asked.

Ranger kissed Stephanie. "I've talked enough tonight. It's time for something else."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: I'll be honest. I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I like it, but I wonder if there is something I could have done to make it better. Alas, my brain is too rattled from my final grades for freshman year. I got all A's for my spring semester, bringing me to eight A's and 1 B… That damn English class. I'm quite happy with all of this because it means I can transfer sooner and continue writing without my dear old aunt getting on my butt to study (Which I only tend to do when finals come). I'm only going to have a couple more chapters of this story, and then I'll start on a sequel.

_**Important News: **__1.)_ The month of August is going to be full of changes. I'm going back and working on editing and rewriting _The Death Card_ so that the material is more like what I'm posting at the moment. So I'll be keeping people posted on that as well. This also means that I'll be going in and editing some parts of _The Best Kept Secrets_. This mostly consists of me looking for typos and sentences that don't make sense.

2.) Ren Kayashima can now be your friend on Facebook. I know that many people are concerned about sharing info. Don't worry about that. I'm not saying people have to follow me there. I created the account to talk with several people on that also created separate accounts. I'll be posting links and a lot more updates there. If you don't want to do that, I also have a twitter and tumblr. Mostly because I get really bored. Like I said, you can choose not to follow me. I just wanted to let everyone know that I would be posting updates and story statuses on those sites.

Drop me a review because I know you want to.

Shane


	30. Chapter 29

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

Stephanie entered Allegra's bedroom to find it empty. She smiled and walked over to the window. Stephanie needed to talk to Allegra about something that had been troubling her.

She found the petite teen sitting on the roof above her window. The sun had gone down a couple hours ago, and Allegra was sitting in her thinking spot. Her face was turned up to sky as she hugged her knees. Her eyes were closed and a small smile had graced her lips. "I thought I might find you here," Stephanie stated as she carefully made her way onto the roof.

Allegra opened her eyes and turned her attention to her mother. "Oh?" she asked.

"I need to ask you something," Stephanie sighed as she sat down next to Allegra. Allegra shifted so that she could snuggle up next to her mother.

"Okay," she mumbled as she closed her eyes once more.

"Why did you run away from Julie a few nights ago?" Stephanie asked as she wrapped her arms around Allie's waist.

Allegra shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "When I thought about it, I didn't want to leave Cayden. I don't like the idea of being forced to do something. I thought you would make me do it."

Stephanie shook her head. "I would never make you do anything. Except maybe I would make you eat your vegetables."

"Mom, how much do you love Ranger?" Allegra asked.

Stephanie looked at the night sky and let out a long sigh. Leave it to her daughter to ask the question that she herself had been trying to figure out for a few years now. It wasn't like love was easy to define either. There was familial love, love for a friend, and love for someone intimate. Stephanie loved two men. As much as she was no longer with Morelli, you couldn't make feelings like hers just disappear. It just didn't happen.

"I love him a lot," Stephanie finally spoke. "He accepts me as I am, and with time he's slowly shifted into a more personable man. There's still a lot to learn about him, but every day I spend with him, I feel like I'm getting closer to seeing the real Carlos Manoso."

Allegra snuggled her head farther into her mother's stomach and smiled. "Okay."

"That's all you have to say?" Stephanie asked. "That's possibly the deepest thing I've ever said to you and your answer is 'okay'?"

"I don't know what you want me to say," Allegra said. "Other than the fact that you seem to have found someone who cares for you, and that he'll support you no matter what."

"You should probably go to bed," Stephanie said. "You have school in the morning."

Allegra sat up and slowly crawled down to her window. "Are you coming?" she asked her mom.

"Yeah, give me a minute," Stephanie smiled. "Go get ready for bed."

0o0o0o0

That weekend the McAllister family room had become the brainstorming center for any and all discussions related to the search for a new home.

Ranger and Stephanie were seated on the love seat, while Cayden, Julie, and Allegra took the couch. They had been sitting there for twenty minutes and they had yet to figure out anything except the budget. With Ranger's booming security company, and Cayden's job at the University they could afford a house between $1.5 million and $2 million range. That would give them a simple mortgage payment, and would allow for each contributing member to pay other expenses and set aside money in savings.

Allegra stood p and headed to the front of the house. She entered the downstairs guest room and walked over to the closet. She opened the closet doors and pulled a white board from the back. It was frequently stored in the closet because both Cayden and the Wonderland Brigade would use it for various projects.

Allegra set the board up in front of the flat screen and walked over to the small desk that sat next to the kitchen pantry. She pulled a pencil box from a drawer and brought it into the family room. She pulled an aqua expo marker and divided the board in half. On the left side she wrote 'Want' and on the right she wrote 'Need'. She added three items to the 'Need' section. **Five Bedrooms, four bathrooms, **and **Space for Baby grand.**

Ranger blinked. "Why do we need five bedrooms?"

Allegra pointed to him and Stephanie. "One," Julie. "Two." Cayden. "Three." Herself. "Four, and one guest room."

"Four bathrooms?" Ranger asked.

Cayden shook his head. As someone who had lived with women his whole life he knew the importance of a bathroom. "Don't go there," he sighed. "You will not win that argument, so don't try."

Allegra smiled and crossed her arms triumphantly. "What do we need, and what do we want?"

"We need a pool," Julie said.

"That's a want," Cayden pointed out.

"No, I'm pretty sure that's a need," Stephanie nodded. "Keep in mind Cayden. All Wonderland Brigade gathering take place on our turf. Having a pool would keep them out of the house for a few hours. Giving you time to focus on grading."

"It needs to be approved for a Rangeman Security system," Ranger said.

**Pool** and **Security** was added to the list. Allegra thought for a moment before adding **separate dining space** to the list of needs, and **eat-in kitchen** to the list of wants. Cayden smiled knowing how much Stephanie and Allegra enjoyed eating breakfast together in the kitchen. He stood up and took the pen from his daughter and added his want: **space for a library**.

"All right," Cayden stated. "Here's how it's going to work. Everyone will put one thing they really want on the list. I'm sure we can find a place that has all our wants and needs."

Allegra wiped the **five **off of the number of bedrooms and replaced it with a **six**. Now Ranger wasn't the only one confused. She gave a wide grin. "Just in case" was the only explanation she gave as she took her seat once more.

Stephanie knew immediately what she wanted. Cayden had one in his room, and he happily let her borrow it, but she wanted one for herself. She stood up and left Ranger's side. She picked up a plum colored pen, and wrote out the one thing she wanted in a home:** Jacuzzi Bathtub**.

Ranger smiled. Give the woman a proper bathtub, and she was happy. Ranger didn't really want anything. He could use the gym at the office, and he would be living with Stephanie, Julie and Allegra. That was enough for the former military man. He had learned long ago to appreciate what he did have.

Julie was next. **Separate family and living rooms** was written out in neat print. "I like the way this place is set up. The family room is for entertainment, while the living room is for socialization," she explained. "Well, and music practice for Allie and James," she added.

Allegra stared at the board. What did she want? Cayden and Julie had taken the two she was thinking about. After a minute she finally thought about something. She went back to the board. **Less than five miles from James.**

Stephanie smiled and looked at Ranger. "What do you want?"

Ranger gave a slight shake of his head. "Nothing. It's all there." And it was.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Well I've finished the next chapter. The way it's turned out, it looks like we'll be looking at some houses… Hopefully. We'll see what I can come up with.

_**Important News: **__1.)_ The month of August is going to be full of changes. I'm going back and working on editing and rewriting _The Death Card_ so that the material is more like what I'm posting at the moment. So I'll be keeping people posted on that as well. This also means that I'll be going in and editing some parts of _The Best Kept Secrets_. This mostly consists of me looking for typos and sentences that don't make sense.

2.) Ren Kayashima can now be your friend on Facebook. I know that many people are concerned about sharing info. Don't worry about that. I'm not saying people have to follow me there. I created the account to talk with several people on that also created separate accounts. I'll be posting links and a lot more updates there. If you don't want to do that, I also have a twitter and tumblr. Mostly because I get really bored. Like I said, you can choose not to follow me. I just wanted to let everyone know that I would be posting updates and story statuses on those sites.

Drop me a review because I know you want to.

Shane


	31. Chapter 30

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Thirty:

Ranger let out a long mental groan. They had looked at four houses at this point, and they still weren't any closer to finding 'the one'. They had one last house to look at before they could call it a day, and he hoped that this place would end their search.

Ranger pulled to a stop in front of 521 Lysander Way. This particular neighborhood had Shakespeare themed streets, and the section they were in was centered on A Midsummer Night's Dream. The houses were on the larger side and varied in style. It was a neighborhood that was in transition from old to new so some Victorian houses stood, while other houses were more modern. Cayden's modern home was only a couple miles down the road in the Macbeth part of the neighborhood on Siward Street.

521 Lysander Way was a Colonial style home with a large porch. The wood exterior had been painted a dark grey and the columns were a pristine white. On the left side of the porch was a wooden porch swing. Stephanie let a small sigh escape her lips. The outside looked nice. Now she needed to make sure that the inside was just as great.

Ranger slid a gaze over to Stephanie and raised an eyebrow. "What?" Stephanie asked.

"It's two miles from Cayden's," Ranger said as he opened the door of his Turbo. Cayden, Allegra, and Julie were waiting on the porch having arrived only a couple minutes before. "We might as well stay there."

"It's not big enough," Stephanie explained. She shared a bathroom with her daughter. That had to change. Stephanie gestured that the house. "This place is."

"James lives across the street," Ranger sighed. He knew Allie wanted to be close to her boyfriend, but he thought that maybe this place was a little too close.

"Yes, he does," Stephanie nodded slowly. "It fit's Allegra's want. That's a plus."

"It better have all of our wants for the listed price," Ranger said. This place was at the very top of their budget, but it had their needs, and some of the wants were listed at amenities. Now it was time to look at it more closely.

Allegra stayed on the porch out of the sun while Julie and Cayden went to greet the rest of the makeshift family. Cayden stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at Stephanie over the edge of his mirrored glasses. "Allegra's ready to move in," he grinned.

"Of course she is," Ranger muttered.

"It has a pool," Julie said as she started to count their list of wants. "James is across the street, one of the bathrooms has a Jacuzzi tub AND shower, there are separate living and family rooms, and an Eat-in Kitchen. This is the place for us."

Ranger rocked back on his heels. "You sound like you want to move in to. Have you already been inside?"

"No, the real estate agent is five minutes away. When she gets here, we'll head inside and take a look," Cayden explained.

"Let's go sit on the porch. Are the current residents still living here?" Stephanie asked.

"No, they cleared out a couple weeks ago. They live in Boston now," Cayden smiled. This was his neighborhood and he was at home in it. Staying here would be all right with him. He was certain that Allegra wouldn't mind it either.

As soon as Stephanie stepped foot into 521 Lysander Way, she felt at home with the warm colors and open floor plan. She looked up the stairs in front of her to see a hall of doors. There was a small alcove that could pass for a study or a library. She pointed at it and looked at Cayden. "Could that be your library?"

Cayden looked up. "We'll check it out in a moment." He looked at the bubbly real estate agent in her pink suit. "So all the bedrooms are on the second floor?"

"All but one," the real estate agent grinned widely. Her teeth were freshly polished and white. "I'll show you that room now. It's near the garage, but I assure you that noise doesn't make it through these walls. I think you guys will like it."

Stephanie, Ranger, and Cayden nodded. Separate, but together worked. Determining who would sleep where would be interesting.

The mismatched family followed the agent towards the garage and she turned down a small hall. The bedroom was spacious and had an attached bathroom. There was a window that looked at the side of the backyard where a gate had been placed to prevent unwanted guests.

"I approve," Julie smiled as she nodded slowly.

"This would probably be Cayden's room," Allegra hummed as she turned to leave the room. A small laundry room opened up to a two car garage. She was happy to see that. All of their cars would fit on the property. She glanced upstairs curiously and made her way to the stairs. She looked at the small opening that divided the top floor in half. There were two bedrooms to the left and three on the right. Allegra turned to the right and walked to the one room that faced the street.

Julie came running up the staid while the adults calmly made their way to the second floor. Cayden looked at the opening. There was enough space to fit his bookshelves and two reading chairs. He nodded in approval. There was a full window that looked out on the backyard and he had to suppress a grin.

Stephanie dragged Ranger to the left into the second floor master. She brought him to the bathroom and pointed to the Jacuzzi tub. "It can fit two people," she smiled "What do you think?"

Ranger wrapped his arms around Stephanie's waist and pulled her close. "I take it you like the house too?" he asked.

Stephanie smiled and shrugged nonchalantly. "The crown molding is a nice touch."

Ranger quietly laughed. He liked the house. He would have to look at it more closely with security in mind. "What are the girls up to?" he asked. "I hear hushed whispers."

Stephanie sighed longingly. The mood had officially been killed by Ranger's keen sense of hearing. "I guess we should make sure they haven't killed Cayden," she said as she broke away from Ranger.

Ranger pulled her back. "Is everything all right?"

Stephanie looked at him and gestured at the empty walls and clean carpet. "What do you see?" she asked.

Ranger raised an eyebrow as Stephanie crossed her arms. Ranger looked around and tried not to scoff of the absurdity of her question.

Stephanie looked at the windows. "That backyard could be where Allegra and Julie spend the majority of their summer with their friends. This room could be where I come after a long day of chasing FTA's. The living room could be where Allegra and James practice for concerts. The dining room would be the place where we talk about out day.

"This is a home Ranger, and that's what we've been looking for this week," Stephanie smiled. "Now, what do you see?"

Ranger smiled back at Stephanie. He could see it now. This was a home made for them. Every room was different in its shape and the views were never the same. It was the perfect fit for the diverse family. It separated the parents by a floor so they wouldn't bump into each other. However, they lived in the home together, and would run the home together.

"Let's see what the others have to say," Ranger said.

Stephanie and Ranger made their way to the bedroom facing the street. Allegra sat on a window seat in the left corner of the rom. She looked over at her mom and Ranger and grinned. "This one is mine."

Julie sat down beside Allie. "James' room is right across the way," she said. "Allie can't see that far, but he's at his window working on something."

Allegra hugged her knees and looked around picturing the way she would set it up and thinking of paint colors.

"Can you tell me about the safety in this neighborhood?" Ranger asked.

The real estate agent smiled and looked out the window. "I'm so glad you asked that. This is one of the safest neighborhoods in Princeton. I'm sure you can ask Mr. McAllister all about it."

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: I must apologize for such a late update. I've been trying to work through a serious case of writers block. Let me tell you, I didn't fare well. This week, I seemed to get my mojo back and started writing. I think that there will only be one more chapter for this story and then I will try hard to bring you a new story.

Drop me a review letting me know what you think. I hope you enjoyed it.

Shane


	32. Chapter 31

Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

0o0o0o0

Chapter Thirty-One:

Stephanie looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her make-up was perfect, and she looked good in her short sleeve button up and black shorts. She pulled her unruly hair into a manageable ponytail as Ranger stepped into the bathroom. He leaned against the doorjamb as he watched in mild amusement.

"Babe, the guests are arriving," he said.

It had only been a couple weeks since the Manoso/Plum/McAllister family had moved into the new home. Allegra being one for names had named their house too. Unfortunately she drew a blank on any names related to 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', so she looked at other sources for inspiration. She called the house Tara after the home in 'Gone With the Wind'. As soon as they had moved in, Allegra and Julie demanded bedroom makeovers.

Julie's room was filled with majestic blues and purples. Ella had been the mastermind behind the designs. She took the girls out shopping for the bedding that would make the room. Julie picked up a dark purple quilt with a stitched in floral pattern. Allegra picked up the same quilt in a deep red. From there they picked sheets and paint colors. After seeing the rooms transformed into their current designs, Ranger knew there was a reason he had hired her.

Julie's room was full bulletin boards filled with photos from the past couple months. A lot of photos showed her with the Wonderland Brigade, and some were of Julie interacting with the employees of Rangeman. Her bookshelf was filled with collectables and trinkets that she collected from her time in Trenton and the Hamptons.

Allegra's room was full of the books she clung to so dearly, the stuff animals that she had been given throughout the years. Her grey walls had been divided in half with a red line. A smaller cream line was placed above and below the red line. Her walls were covered in framed black and white scenery photos and some candid shots of the Wonderland Brigade. On her dark wood desk was a picture of she and Julie hugging as they smiled up at the camera.

Ranger brought Stephanie's favorite sheets to the house and she was forever grateful. Setting up their room was easy. It was similar to Ranger's setup back at the seventh floor apartment: Sleek and sophisticated was the way to go when it came to their bedroom. Stephanie placed a couple framed photos on the wall to give the room a lived in feel.

Getting the house set up was easier than expected, and as soon as everything found its place, Stephanie's mother started planning a house warming party. The party was going to happen whether the family wanted it or not.

Stephanie sighed and nodded as she turned to Ranger. "I can't believe she invited this many people," she groaned.

Ranger walked over and wrapped his arms around Stephanie's waist. "It can't be that bad," he said as he kissed her on the temple.

"Allegra is hiding over at James'" Stephanie laughed. "She won't come until she absolutely has too."

Ranger chuckled as he guided Stephanie downstairs to help Cayden greet their guests.

Meanwhile, across the street Allegra sat on James' bed as she listened to her iPhone. James settled on the bed next to her. He pulled one of her headphones out. "Maybe we should head over to your place," he suggested.

Allegra shook her head. "Gram invited crazy people from half the burg," she grumbled.

James pulled Allegra into a tight hug. The two of them had been spending the entire morning upstairs in his bedroom. Zook and Julie had gone to go get some snacks from the convenience store close by. The twins and Mason were somewhere else in Princeton spending the morning with their parents. Allegra turned and buried her face in James' chest. "Thank for telling me about the house when it went on the market," she said.

James laughed. "It's nice to have you across the street," he said.

Allegra's phone rang and she looked at the screen. She groaned and silenced the JAWS theme. The last thing she wanted to do was answer a call from her grandmother. "Allegra, I'd like you to meet the Johnson's they have a son your age," Helen Plum's voice echoed in the teens head. Helen liked James, but he wasn't from the Burg.

Zook and Julie entered the room and walked over to the window. "The street is getting packed," Julie said.

"Everyone and their mother are in your house," Zook stated as he opened a bag of cheese puffs. He fell onto James' desk chair. Julie leaned against the desk and opened a can of coke.

Allegra pulled out her phone determined to avoid the house. "I'm calling the rest of the Wonderland Brigade. We'll meet here, and avoid that house warming nightmare."

"But Grandma Mazur will me there," James grinned. "Something fun is bound to happen."

Allegra paused and looked at James. "You're right…"

0o0o0o0

Stephanie stood next to Ranger as she watched Allegra sit down at the piano next to James. Julie sat on the arm of a nearby couch and held Zook's hand as she leaned into his shoulder. Ranger had started to mutter, and it took everything Stephanie had not to burst into a fit of giggles.

Cayden came from his bedroom holding an old, worn, violin case. The violin belonged to Allegra, but during the decorating frenzy, she had stashed the instrument in her father's room for safe keeping.

Allegra hopped up the minute she spotted her pride and joy in Cayden's hands. She hugged the violin case close and spun around giddily. "Oh, my baby!" she squealed. "I missed you."

Helen walked in holding a tray of cookies. She was happy to see Stephanie in a home with a family. Even if it wasn't the family she always envisioned her daughter having, but it was a family nonetheless. Ranger would keep her safe like he had done many times before.

Helen watched as Ranger pulled Stephanie to the backyard. Allegra set up her violin as James got ready to play the piano. The Wonderland Brigade surrounded the piano as Allegra and James began playing an Irish Jig.

Stephanie stared at the cool water of the pool. They couldn't have picked a better home. She could live peacefully with those she loved. Everything was perfect. She lowered herself into a deck chair as Ranger moved in front of her.

"Babe, I like seeing that smile on your face," he said.

"I actually feel like I have a home now," Stephanie sighed in content. "I have an amazing family, even if it is a tad dysfunctional." She laughed lightly.

Ranger crouched down so that he was eye level with Stephanie. "How about we fix some of that," he suggested.

Stephanie tilted her head to the side in confusion. "How?" she asked.

Ranger reached into his cargo pants and pulled out an elegant red box. Stephanie felt her heart jump out of her chest as she realized what Ranger was about to do.

"Stephanie Plum, will you marry me?"

**The End**

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: The end is finally here. I kind of suck for leaving it at such a place, don't I? Don't worry. **THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL! **I left it off here because I have to keep you guys interested right?

I've been writing this story since the end of January, and I thank everyone who has stuck with it. After writing it, I feel so accomplished. This story has been extremely successful, and I still can't believe it. I only hope the sequel is just as great.

Ren


End file.
